Maryborough crash: CCTV shows moment teenagers allegedly steal Mercedes Benz
Footage has captured the moment when two teenagers allegedly stole a car from outside a home, hours before a fatal crash that killed three people.
The footage shows two hooded figures storming the yard of the property in Maryborough, Queensland, just after 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Minutes later, they are seen getting behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz parked in the driveway.
The car then immediately crashes into a fence, knocking it down as the vehicle reverses down the driveway.
CCTV footage reportedly shows two teenagers storming the house on Sunday (pictured)
The stolen car was reported to have crashed into a Holden on a highway in Maryborough hours later, which then crashed into a Mazda, killing three people
A 13-year-old who was allegedly behind the wheel has been charged after the car crashed into the back of a Holden on Saltwater Creek Road around 10:45pm Sunday.
Kelsie Davies, 17, a recent graduate of Riverside Christian College, and church pastor Michale Chandler, 29, were killed in the crash.
The force of the crash also shunted the vehicle into a Mazda, killing the driver, nurse Sheree Robertson, 52, who was driving home after work.
The Holden’s occupants were reported to be returning from seeing a movie, with the third passenger fighting for his life in a Brisbane hospital.
A resident on the street where the car was allegedly stolen, Joan Massingham, said she heard the car crash into the fence.
“I heard a huge bang and thought a (lorry) trailer had hit the fence,” Ms Massingham told 7 News.
One of Mrs Davies’s teachers and Bundaberg MP Tom Smith paid tribute to his former pupil on Monday.
“Kelsie was a student that every teacher wishes they could teach,” he said.
“She was always eager to learn, eager to set the bar high, and most of all she was just a very nice and gentle boy who was loved by all her peers.”
Mrs. Chandler’s husband, Matthew, also paid tribute to the beloved wife and mother.
“It is with the greatest of heavy hearts that we bid farewell to our dear Michale Chandler for the time being,” he wrote.
You were and will always be the best wife and mother in the world.
“Until we meet in heaven, my queen, love you to the moon and back.”
The couple had previously celebrated a year as licensed ministers at Maryborough’s Reach Church in April.
While Mrs Robertson’s colleagues said the nurse would be sorely missed.
The figures then get behind the wheel of the vehicle and drive back down the driveway, demolishing a fence (pictured)
Kelsie Davies, 17, was killed in the Queensland town of Maryborough on Sunday night when a Mercedes, reportedly driven by a 13-year-old boy, collided with the Holden she was in.
Mrs. Chandler’s husband, Matthew, paid tribute to the beloved wife and mother
“She was a bright spot in the department. She was just loud and rambunctious,” said registered nurse Caitlyn Brown.
Community emergency services have been praised for their professionalism after arriving at the scene and recognizing the nurse and another victim, a relative of a local police officer.
According to police, a passenger in the Mercedes allegedly fled the scene of the crash, while the 13-year-old suffered minor injuries to his foot during the crash.
He was charged with three counts of dangerous driving resulting in death and one count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
The teen is to appear in the Maroochydore Children’s Court.
The charges come six weeks after Queensland introduced a series of measures to reduce juvenile delinquency, including tougher prison sentences for car thieves.
Police are still investigating the incident and have requested information from anyone who saw the silver Mercedes before the crash in the Maryborough and Hervey Bay area.
Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Monday that her heart goes out to the grieving families.
“This is a terrible tragedy and it shouldn’t happen,” she told reporters.
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers was furious on Monday.
‘TThe courts really need to step up when we lock these kids up.”
Nurse Sheree Robertson, 52, was killed in a Mazda as she was driving home from work at Maryborough Hospital
Mr Leavers said he knows Maryborough and Harvey Bay well from his 30 years with the Queensland Police Service.
“There is a core group of less than a dozen young people who are causing chaos and endangering the community,” he said.
“They need to be locked up and imprisoned because they cannot live by society’s norms.
States across Australia want to raise the age of criminal liability to 14. That would mean that this 13-year-old would not be held accountable.
‘We can’t even take them to court.’
Currently, across Australia, children aged 10-14 are subject to criminal law but must be proven to understand that what they were doing was wrong.
A 2020 report from the Permanent Council of Attorneys General recommended abolishing this and raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years.