‘Community should be outraged’: Man dead after car pushed up to 80m into tree in fatal crash in Melbourne

A man has been killed after his car was pushed as far 80m into a tree after an allegedly stolen truck ran a red light.

The 67-year-old Taylors Hill man died at the scene of the crash in Footscray in Melbourne’s west at 4.30am on Monday in what’s been described as a “tragic, tragic incident”.

Police allege a stolen white Nissan truck was spotted in Beveridge about 2.30am on Monday, with police attempting to intercept the car in Truganina near Peterpaul Way and Schembri Drive before it sped off.

Stop sticks were placed down several times; however, they were unsuccessful.

Police believe the allegedly stolen truck was travelling west on Ballarat Rd when it ran a red light, colliding with a 2011 Toyota Corolla.

The Corolla had been turning right from Ballarat Rd into Moore St.

Victoria Police Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said the Corolla was pushed up to 80m upon impact into a tree.

“Unfortunately, the driver of a second vehicle was hit by the stolen truck and was killed it appears instantly,” Mr Weir said at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

“(At) the time of impact, the civilian vehicle was pushed 70 to 80m into a tree onto the south side of Ballarat Rd.”

The driver of the Corolla is yet to be identified; however, Mr Weir said he was believed to be a man.

The 40-year-old Deer Park man who was driving the Nissan truck had been out on bail at the time of the incident.

No charges have yet been laid.

Mr Weir said there was “excessive speed involved” before the collision as well as periods of driving on the wrong side of the road and not obeying red lights.

The Deer Park man was also allegedly involved in another collision with a separate vehicle prior to the fatal crash; however, there were no injuries.

“The exact speed at the time of collision will obviously be determined as part of our investigation. Our forensic crash reconstruction specialists are involved … but that’ll take a bit of time,” Mr Weir said.

The 40-year-old man was taken to hospital with minor injuries and remains under police guard.

Mr Weir said he would have “blood taken to determine his level of intoxication or presence of drugs and alcohol”.

“Once cleared by medical staff he will be interviewed by detectives from major collision investigation unit and will be facing serious charges, he said.

Mr Weir said the 40-year-old had “some criminal history, although not extensive”.

“He was on bail and was on bail to appear at the Sunshine Magistrates Court on the 7th of February … that was from the 11th of November when he was charged with theft of motor car, driving whilst unlicensed, possessing drugs,” Mr Weir said.

Police believe the Nissan truck was initially stolen on January 3 from Kalkallo before it was found in Derrimut.

The owner was then contacted on January 5; however, the truck was stolen again from Derrimut.

“We believe the person who saw it, the friend of the reporting person, saw it quite a few hours before this incident happened, has notified the reporting person who attended, but then left it unattended for two hours, and then it’s been re-stolen in that time,” Mr Weir said.

Mr Weir said the investigation was “ very much ongoing”.

“Obviously, the interview of the offender will play a key part, hopefully, in unpacking why he did what he did. And naturally, because it is an incident involving a police operation that has caused the death of a civilian, there is a significant oversight from our professional standards command.”

Mr Weir said the “most important” priority at the moment was identifying the man so his family could be informed.

He said tragedies such as this kept him up at night, and the community should be “outraged”.

“It’s an absolute tragedy – you think about those things that keep you awake at night, this is something that keeps me awake at night, worrying about the activity that some people are undertaking,” Mr Weir said.

“Complete disregard for community safety, the arrogance and high level of criminal behaviour that these people are engaging in, and this is always the risk that something like this is going to happen.

“It impacts on the whole community — impacts us, it obviously impacts the family, the people of the person who’s been killed, and the general community should be outraged that people are behaving like this.”

Major roads were shut following the crash, with a Victoria Department of Planning and Transport spokesperson confirming Ballarat Rd and Smithfield Rd were closed between Geelong Rd, Footscray and Smithfield Rd as well as Moore St between Hopkins St and Ballarat Rd on Monday morning.

Anyone with information has been urged to come forward.