A young Australian involved in a terrifying 180km/h crash recounted the chilling encounter when he was allegedly threatened with a machete while attempting to assist a teenager who had been ejected fatally from an allegedly stolen vehicle.
On Thursday night, Tony, 23, had just left his girlfriend’s house in Caroline Springs, located in Melbourne’s western suburbs, when an allegedly stolen Skoda raced up behind him on Derrimut Road in Hoppers Crossing.
According to police reports, a group of teenagers allegedly tried to hijack a Toyota sedan and then pursued it in the Skoda, eventually crashing into the back of the Toyota.
The Skoda reportedly collided with Tony’s Ford Falcon XR6, causing his car to spin off the road, resulting in him suffering from whiplash and potentially broken ribs.
The Skoda, allegedly carrying seven youths, then struck a Ford Ranger before overturning and landing in a nearby home’s front yard.
During the rollover, a local teenage boy named Robbie, 15, was tragically ejected through the car’s windscreen and killed.
‘He was allegedly doing about 180km/h,’ Tony told the Daily Mail on Monday. ‘My car went airborne. I don’t know how I’m alive.’
Despite his own injuries, Tony rushed out to try to help the injured boy – but was allegedly confronted by a youth wielding a machete emerging from the wreck.
Tributes have flooded TikTok for young Robbie
Paramedics help one of the injured teens in the wrecked Skoda
The gang’s Skoda – allegedly packed with seven youths – allegedly hit a Ford Ranger before rolling and coming to rest in the front yard of a nearby home
‘I walked towards the deceased to help,’ he said. ‘There was a girl sitting next to him screaming for an ambulance as the driver emerged from the wreckage.
‘Then a neighbour yelled out: “Machete!”
‘I was still walking towards him. I thought, “I’m not going to die today.” So I walked the other way. The driver hasn’t even looked backwards. He just ran.’
Police later allegedly recovered a sword near the scene.
Tony’s mother Anna, a single mum from Melbourne’s west, said the family is still reeling from the shock of the horrific incident.
‘He’s got whiplash and suspected broken ribs from the seatbelt,’ she said.
‘He hasn’t slept since. Doctors gave him sleeping tablets and they’re not even working. He’s traumatised. He can’t even handle the sound of a horn beeping now.’
The crash has destroyed more than just Tony’s body and his beloved Falcon XR6.
Robbie was killed in a shocking crash in what is believed to have been an attempted carjacking
Tony’s wrecked Ford Falcon which was not insured
Tony’s car was hit by a car allegeldy travelling at about 180kmh, he said
The car, worth about $7,500, is a write-off and wasn’t insured after an insurance company bizarrely applied a bushfire embargo meant for Geelong homes.
‘They said the embargo was due to bushfires,’ explained Anna.
‘But I told them we don’t live anywhere near Geelong, and we’re insuring a car, not a house. They never called back when the embargo lifted.’
Tony has now also lost his job in the cargo area at Melbourne Airport because he has no transport and is too shaken to drive.
‘We’re a one-income household,’ his mum added.
‘He was a very confident driver, he’s even raced on tracks. His skills probably saved him when the car landed. But now he’s freaking out.’
As Robbie lay dead at the scene, the driver and his passengers allegedly scattered towards the nearby Pacific Werribee shopping centre.
Police found bottles of tequila and other cans of alcoholic cocktails at the scene.
A bottle of tequila was found at the crash site
A can of 196 premixed vodka cocktail was also spotted at the crash scene
Tony and Anna say the driver, who is due to appear in a Children’s Court, was well known.
‘My hope is that he just gets charged as an adult,’ Anna said.
The family has been left emotionally shattered.
‘As a mother you never stop worrying,’ Anna said.
‘No mother deserves to bury her child. But it could have been my son lying there. He was just doing the right thing, dropping his girlfriend home.’
Tony said he’d never forget what he saw that night and the vision of Robbie’s mates allegedly leaving him for dead.
‘(The driver) ran straight past his dead mate without even looking back,’ he said.
The bloody aftermath of the tragic crash
CCTV captured Tony’s vehicle allegedly being struck (pictured)
The pair have a blunt message for politicians, judges and the courts.
‘These kids are acting like adults, driving underage, drinking underage,’ Anna said.
‘Police and emergency services put in hours, ambulances, helicopters – all those resources – and then they get a slap on the wrist. It’s not right.’
The family is prioritising Tony’s health and counselling before considering a GoFundMe.
Meanwhile there has been an outpouring of grief from the community following Robbie’s death.
Just months ago the teenager had posted his own tributes for a friend who died in chillingly similar circumstances.
On Monday floral tributes had been erected at a fence where the car came to grief.
The driver has since been charged with culpable driving causing death and other traffic offences, and was remanded in custody.
Robbie had previously lost another friend in a similar tragedy less than a year earlier
Family and friends have flooded social media with pictures and videos in his memory
The front passenger, a 16-year-old girl from the Wyndham area, sustained serious injuries and remains in hospital.
Another 16-year-old girl from the Wyndham area was arrested at the scene, interviewed and released pending further investigation.
A 14-year-old boy from the Wyndham area later presented to a nearby hospital where he was arrested.
He was interviewed by investigators and remanded in custody on matters unrelated to the crash.
Police say they are still working to identify two other occupants of the Skoda who fled the scene.
Anyone with further information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
