On 23 April 2020, a drugged truck driver, Mohinder Singh, crashed his truck into a

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and origin ...

and two police cars on the Eastern Freeway, in the city of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, killing four police officers who were on routine highway patrol. Prior to the incident, the officers had pulled over the Porsche driver, Richard Pusey, for speeding. After the truck ploughed into the officers, Pusey filmed them for several minutes with vulgar commentary as they lay dying, before fleeing. The crash was the biggest loss of police lives in a single incident in

Victoria police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victo ...

’s history. Justice Paul Coghlan stated that the crash had "shocked the public conscience".

Incident

Victoria police commissioner Graham Ashton Ashton stated that two officers stopped a Porsche 911 that had been travelling at 140km/h around 5pm on 23 April, on a Wednesday afternoon. The two police officers

drug test A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of drug ...

ed the 41-year-old male driver, Richard Pusey. When he tested positive for drugs the officers decided to impound his vehicle and called two further officers to the scene. Just after they arrived a

refrigerated truck A refrigerator truck or chiller lorry (also called a Reefer), is a van or truck designed to carry perishable freight at low temperatures. Most long-distance refrigerated transport by truck is done in articulated trucks pulling refrigerated sem ...

ploughed into the four officers. Pusey was not hit as he was urinating at the side of the road. He filmed the dying officers whilst giving an expletive-laden commentary.Eastern Freeway tragedy: Perfect storm of drugs, bizarre behaviour and speeding led to crash
News.com.au. April 14 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

footage showed the truck straddling and drifting across lanes on the freeway 10 minutes before the incident. Ashton said, "The truck itself appears to have moved from one of the

traffic lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...

s in the

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

into the

emergency lane A shoulder, hard shoulder (British) or breakdown lane, is an emergency stopping lane by the verge of a road or motorway, on the right side in countries which drive on the right, and on the left side in countries which drive on the left. Many wid ...

and has travelled a short distance in the emergency lane at around about 100km/h and slammed into the rear of the highway patrol vehicle." Constable Lynette Taylor (60), senior constable Kevin King (50) and constables Glen Humphris (32) and Josh Prestney (28) perished at the scene.Four Victoria police victims of horror Melbourne freeway crash named
The Guardian. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2021.

Overview

Mohinder Singh

Singh, 48, was

sleep deprived Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either chronic or acute and may vary ...

and high on drugs when he crashed his 19-tonne semi-trailer into the officers who had pulled over Porsche driver Richard Pusey. Data showed that Singh did not try to brake until it was too late. Singh was using and trafficking drugs before the crash occurred. He had been " speaking nonsense" about being chased by witches on the day of the crash and was seeing " stick figures" and suffering from

delusion A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some o ...

s. He was seen wailing at the crash scene and had a medical episode, and was taken to hospital under police guard. The court was told that Singh had slept for only five hours in the 72 hours before the incident, but felt obliged to continue his work. Older court hearings heard that Singh suffers from anxiety and depression. Lawyer Steven Pica said Singh was "distressed and saddened" at his actions. Singh pleaded guilty in Victoria's

supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

to four counts of culpable driving causing death, and six other charges including trafficking drugs including

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...

and

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

, possessing drugs, and dealing with proceeds of crime. He was sentenced on 14 April 2021 to at least 22 years in prison with a non-

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

period of 18 years and six months.

Richard Pusey

Richard Pusey, 42, a former mortgage broker, was pulled over by Senior Constable Lynette Taylor and First Constable Glen Humphris for speeding at 149km/h. An oral drug test on Pusey confirmed he had

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly seen in Tablet (pharmacy), tablet form (ecstasy) and crystal form (molly or mandy), is a potent empathogen–entactogen with stimulant properties primarily used for Recreational dru ...

and

in his system and the officers called for backup to impound his car. Senior Constable Kevin King and Constable Joshua Prestney arrived half an hour later. About a minute after their arrival, the four were standing in the emergency lane while Pusey urinated off the side of the road when Singh's

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

struck them. Pusey was not hit and used his mobile phone to film the scene, zooming in on the injured officers, saying "That is fucking justice, that is fucking amazing" as they lay dying on the ground. He said, "all I wanted was to go home and have my sushi and now you’ve fucked my fucking car". Pusey continued vulgar commentary while filming for more than three minutes before fleeing on foot and sharing the video on Facebook. He was charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice, driving at a dangerous speed, reckless conduct endangering life,

destruction of evidence Tampering with evidence, or evidence tampering, is an act in which a person alters, conceals, falsifies, or destroys evidence with the intent to interfere with an investigation (usually) by a law-enforcement, governmental, or regulatory authority. ...

, and not providing assistance after an incident. Pusey was jailed for 10 months.

Truck company

After an 18-month investigation, the truck company Connect Logistics were charged with category one and two offences under Heavy Vehicle National Law. The two owners of the company appeared in Parramatta Court on September 28 2021. Category one offences have a maximum penalty of $300,000 and five years jail for an individual and $3m for a corporation. Category two offences carry a maximum penalty of $150,000 for an individual and $1.5m for a corporation. Singh's boss, Simiona Tuteru, was charged with more than 70 offences in relation to the fatal incident. The police allege that Tuteru should have not allowed Singh to drive on the day of the accident due to his

fatigue Fatigue describes a state of tiredness that does not resolve with rest or sleep. In general usage, fatigue is synonymous with extreme tiredness or exhaustion that normally follows prolonged physical or mental activity. When it does not resolve ...

.Truck company Connect Logistics hit with new charges over crash that killed four police officers

News.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...

. September 21, 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.

Tributes

On the day after the crash, Victoria police, including the staff department, gathered at the

Victoria Police Academy The Victoria Police Academy is the main induction training establishment for the Victoria Police. It is located at 1 View Mount Road, in Glen Waverley, in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The grounds encompass 16 hecta ...

on the site's parade ground to pay tribute to the deceased officers, with a minute’s silence. Flowers were also placed at the Boroondara police station, which is proximate to the crash site. In a news conferences, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison thanked Victoria police, whilst uttering his condolences. Melbourne's mayor,

Sally Capp Sally Anne Capp is an Australian politician who is the 104th lord mayor of Melbourne, elected on 18 May 2018 and sworn in on 24 May 2018. She is also the former executive director of the development lobbying group the Property Council of Victori ...

, organised for the flags to be raised at half-mast, and as well as the Melbourne Town Hall to display in blue as a gesture of respect. Police forces from the country and as well as those overseas paid tribute to the victims.

References

{{reflist 2020 in Australia 2020s crimes in Australia 2020 road incidents Filmed accidental deaths Road incident deaths in Victoria (Australia) Driving under the influence Accidental deaths in Victoria (Australia) Police officers killed in the line of duty Crimes committed against law enforcement