Family of teen killed in inner city police car crash calls for independent investigation

By TOKS OGUNDARE

The father of a teenage boy who died after an unmarked police car collided with him in Sydney’s inner-city is calling for an independent investigation into the incident.

The 16-year-old, who is a member of the Thungutti nation and is from Revesby, suffered head injuries when the trail bike he was riding collided with a police car at an intersection in Alexandria on Saturday morning.

He was thrown from the bike and treated for serious injuries at the scene by paramedics before being taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where he died on Sunday afternoon.

Police allege that the bike was stolen, along with a black Mercedes. Officers reported that they had seen the two vehicles near Enmore Road and King Street in Newtown half an hour before the collision.

Police seized the Mercedes and the bike after the collision and arrested another 16-year-old boy in nearby Eveleigh, who was later charged with car theft. 

However, the family has accused NSW Police of providing conflicting and contradictory accounts of the incident. 

“We have been given inconsistent information by police as to what caused [my son’s] death,” the boy’s father, Lachlan Wright, told the ABC.

Mr Wright said that he had two meetings with police while his son was in critical condition in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Initially, a senior officer told him that the police were pursuing his son before the unmarked police car turned in front of him, causing him to fall off the bike.

He said another officer later told him that there was no pursuit, and that his son had lost control of the bike before hitting the unmarked police car which was parked on the road.

“Finding out that the police were involved in [his] death, that a police car and him had collided, was shocking to me, it just made my heart drop,” Mr Wright said.

“I just want the truth, as long as I know the complete truth then I will be happy.” 

NSW Police say an investigation is underway into the circumstances of the incident. The investigation is being independently monitored by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission “to ensure public confidence in the investigation”.