Four young people aged between 13 and 15 have been charged after allegedly stealing a car from Oakdowns and crashing it into a tree in Ravenswood, with a video appearing to show the vehicle travelling at 120 km/h before the crash.
Police say the gold Nissan X-Trail was stolen from an address in Oakdowns on Hobart’s eastern shore overnight between July 24 and 25 before it crashed in the Launceston surburb of Ravenswood on July 26.
The four youths allegedly fled the scene and were arrested a short distance away.
Police said no serious injuries were believed to have been sustained.
A video of the alleged occupants posted on social media appears to show the car’s speedometer reaching 150km/h shortly before the vehicle crashes, with screams and crying heard afterwards.
The car’s owner, Shenay Summers, said the incident had left her unable to work after her vehicle was found.
“I don’t have a car seat, no pram, I can’t work,” she told Pulse.
Summers, a cleaner, said her equipment for work was in the wreckage along with her son’s toys – including his favourite collection of Toy Story toys.
She said she had only recently upgraded to the Nissan X-Trail after saving up for it.
“I had literally just upgraded to that car not even a month ago,” she said.
“And the fact that I’d worked so hard for it to be able to upgrade and then now I’m left with nothing.”
Summers said watching footage of her car being driven at extreme speed had been particularly distressing.
“In the video I [saw] the driver driving 150km/h in the car … and then they crashed it,” she said.
She said the speed of the vehicle could have put other people at risk.
“The way they were driving just through one of the streets at 150km/h, imagine if there was a young family or kids, you know,” she said.
“It’s disgusting.”
The four have been charged with motor vehicle stealing, stealing, driving while not the holder of a driver licence, driving without due care and attention and failing to comply with the duties of a driver involved in a crash.
The youths were proceeded against under the Youth Justice Act and will appear before the Launceston Magistrates Court in September.
Police warned reckless and dangerous behaviour on the roads put drivers, passengers and other road users at risk of death or serious injury.
“Excessive speed combined with inexperience can have tragic consequences,” police said.
A Gofundme page has been set up to help Summers replace her car here.
