A man has been charged with manslaughter over the death of another man in a fatal collision in Melbourne’s west involving an allegedly stolen truck.
The 40-year-old was allegedly driving the truck west on Ballarat Rd in Footscray about 4.30am on Monday when it ran a red light and collided with a 2011 Toyota Corolla, police said.
The white Nissan truck was allegedly being driven in a “really extreme” manner in an attempt to evade a police pursuit at the time of the collision.
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The sedan was turning right from Ballarat Rd and into Moore St when it was struck, instantly killing its driver, a 67-year-old man from Taylors Hill.
The truck hit the car with such force it pushed the car 70m to 80m into a tree.
The truck driver was arrested at the scene and taken to hospital with minor injuries under police guard.
The 40-year-old man from Deer Park has also been charged with culpable driving, conduct endangering life, trafficking methylamphetamine, going equipped to steal, possessing proceeds of crime, and various other traffic offenses.
He is set to appear before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
Multiple charges
Police said the driver allegedly committed several offences before the fatal collision, including colliding with another vehicle (causing no injuries), driving at speed, occasionally driving on the wrong side of the road, and running several red lights.
Before the fatal collision, the white Nissan truck was first spotted in Beveridge about 2.30am, police said.
Officers were notified and the AirWing was called on as the truck travelled to Truganina.
Police deployed stop sticks on several occasions, however, attempts to stop the vehicle were unsuccessful.
Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said the truck driver was crossing onto the wrong side of the road, speeding excessively and disobeying traffic control signals.
The AirWing was still following the truck and police were en route to the scene when the collision occurred.
At the time of the crash, the man was on bail and due to appear in court in February charged with theft of a vehicle, driving unlicensed and possessing drugs.
It’s believed the truck had already been stolen once before from the Kalkallo area on January 3.
The vehicle was found in Derrimut two days later however it appears the truck was then stolen again.
Weir described the incident as “an absolute tragedy” and said the most important thing for police was to identify the victim so that his next of kin could be informed.
“It’s one of the toughest things we do, is to try and stop people who need to be stopped because they’re going to cause harm to themselves or the public,” Weir said.
“This is something that keeps me awake at night worrying about the activity that some people are undertaking, a complete disregard for community safety.
“The general community should be outraged that people are behaving like this.”