Victim of stolen car crash named

The scene of the crash in Onehunga. Photo / Doug Sherring

Police have named the woman killed when a stolen car crashed in Auckland and the driver allegedly abandoned her and two other injured women at the scene.

Kathleen Mere Wilson, 25, unemployed and of no fixed abode, died when the car crashed through a metal barrier in Arthur St, Onehunga on Friday.

Passenger Danielle Rocque, 17, screamed in agony "get off me" as rescuers tried to pull her from the wreckage .

Both her legs were shattered, and she lay between her dead friend and unconscious cousin Tayla Fiaola, 16, in the backseat footwell of a white Nissan Pulsar.

The car had smashed through a metal barrier on Onehunga's Arthur St on Friday night. Police are still hunting for the driver.

A stepfather of one of the injured girls last night accused the driver of attempted murder.

He told the Herald he doubted the teenagers knew the car was stolen when they accepted a ride.

"Either way it's attempted murder ... they were locked in the back [of the car]," he said. "They're lucky to be alive."

The man said police were looking for a person who had sent a text to one of the girls just before the fatal joy ride. However he used a common alias.

The cousins were last night in a serious condition in Auckland City Hospital intensive care. So far, police have not been able to find the dead woman's next of kin.

Miss Fiaola's mother, Sarah Fiaola, said her daughter suffered a broken pelvis, torn aorta, fluid around her lungs and two broken thighs, the Sunday News reported. She also had hours of surgery.

Sarah Fiaola said Danielle's mother, Elisapeta Rocque, was recovering after giving birth in the hospital's maternity ward.

Arthur St resident Cat Daniel yesterday told the Herald she doubted Danielle would walk again.

"They [her legs] was pretty mashed, it was pretty obvious she had broken both femurs and both bones in shins because her legs were like in zig-zags," she said.

Ms Daniel heard the crash about 10pm and rushed across the street.

Seeing that other neighbours were helping the teenagers, she checked the other passenger, a woman of 25, but could not find a pulse.

"She just looked like she was asleep, no blood on her so I assume it was a quick thing," Ms Daniel said.

Then Miss Rocque screamed, "Look at my leg, look at my leg."

She said she told the girl to calm down and she would be okay as she and another neighbour held her hand.

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said she felt the injured teenager wanted to run away like the driver.

The owner of the crashed car, Shafraz Nassar, told the Herald on Sunday it was stolen while he was at his grandparents' Mt Roskill house.

Arthur St resident John Warwick, who also helped the crash victims, was stunned that the driver, and maybe a passenger, had bolted.

Yesterday the owners of the smashed Onehunga house stood with solemn faces, surveying the damage.

They were not up to talking, but are believed to be considering moving. Another resident said it was the second car crash at the house.

A section of the steel barrier put up by the local council to protect residents from motorists yesterday dangled across the footpath, among debris and branches.

The front veranda of the wooden house was knocked out and a smashed front window had been boarded up.

Police are urging the driver to come forward.

Anyone with information can contact the police on (09) 571 2800 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

- With NZPA