More car-nage in Kings Cross
Residents of Kings Cross were woken for the second time in a week by the sound of a rampaging vehicle smashing their cars parked in the street.
A Nissan Pathfinder four-wheel-drive at 5.10 on Saturday morning hit four cars in Brougham Street before speeding into nearby McElhone Street, damaging another five cars and injuring a man before flipping onto its side and sliding to a stop.
The vehicle struck a parked Toyota Celica so hard that a 25-year-old man sitting in the driver’s seat was flung forward, his head splintering the windscreen. He had just self-administered a breath test device after a night out and had decided to sleep it off in the car before driving home. He was taken to hospital for treatment and later released. The impact pushed his car forward, damaging two more parked cars.
Witnesses saw the driver of the Nissan open the passenger-side door, which was facing skyward, and stagger down the street, swearing, before breaking into a run. He was wearing a black hoody and black jeans, say residents.
Police later found a 28-year-old man sleeping in the grounds of a nearby school. He was later arrested for trespass and resisting arrest and taken to St Vincent’s Hospital for treatment to a minor ear injury. He was granted conditional bail to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on 9 November.
Eyewitness Sean Jones, 21, had just finished a shift at the Kings Cross Hotel and was trying to start his car, parked behind the Celica in McElhone Street.
“I heard the smashes from the other street and then saw the Pathfinder speed out of the lane, coming straight towards me with its wheels screeching,” he said.
“I jumped between the cars – if he had hit my car I’d be dead. The whole side of the car was already torn up.”
The Nissan then slid 15 metres before coming to a stop.
“The guy was really pissed, too drunk to speak” he said.
Ten cars were damaged in a similar incident in nearby Victoria Street only a few days earlier.
by Michael Gormly
