Support pages expressing sympathy for Richard Pusey have emerged. Photo / File
Support pages expressing sympathy for Richard Pusey have emerged. Photo / File
Support pages expressing sympathy for Richard Pusey - the Porsche driver accused of leaving a Melbourne crash in which four police officers were killed - have emerged on Facebook.
Four Victoria Police officers were killed on the side of the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne after pulling over Pusey for allegedly travelling at 140km/h in a 100km/h zone.
The officers were hit by a truck driven by a Cranbourne man, who has since been charged with culpable driving, but Pusey survived the crash because he was urinating next to his car.
The 41-year-old mortgage broker from Fitzroy is accused of filming the aftermath of the collision on his mobile phone and fleeing the scene.
Police said in court on Friday that Pusey was recorded on the body camera of one of the deceased officers saying: "There you go. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. All I wanted to do was go home and have my sushi. Now you've f***ed my f***ing car."
He was charged with multiple offences including reckless conduct endangering life, driving with speed, failing to render assistance, destruction of evidence, drug possession and three counts of committing an indictable offence while on bail.
As the families of the victims and the Victoria Police community come to grips with the tragic loss of Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King, Constable Josh Prestney and Constable Glen Humphris, support pages have sprung up for Pusey.
Constable Glen Humphris, senior constable Kevin King, leading senior constable Lynette Taylor and constable Joshua Prestney all died in the crash. Photo / Supplied
In one group, a woman asked to see the footage Pusey allegedly filmed at the scene — footage Victoria Police says was uploaded to Facebook in the hours after the crash.
Beneath her post, the woman wrote "Support for Richard!"
A comment on one of the group administrator's Facebook pages reads: "Stop sharing images of dying people on the internet ..."
Victoria Police says it is aware of the pages and is working "actively with social media account administrators" to have them taken down.
Pusey's family issued a statement on Monday.
"We would like to say that we are truly devastated by the tragic events that unfolded on Wednesday evening, the 22nd of April 2020," the family wrote.
"We extend our deepest heartfelt sympathies to the families, friends and colleagues of the four officers that so tragically lost their lives in the execution of their police duties.
"The pain and sense of loss at this time is beyond comprehension and there is little that can be said to ease the suffering of those that lost someone special.
"It was an unimaginable and horrific accident that has left us all with many questions and as yet few answers.
"We as a family have been estranged from Richard for some period of time.
"We learned of the horrendous accident on Wednesday evening.
"We were incredibly shocked and deeply ashamed by the events that unfolded surrounding the accident and thereafter.
"Our family have been under immense public and media scrutiny since that time in a quest to find some explanation as to Richard's actions in this catastrophic event.
"This is an insight we are unable to provide. We as a family have had our lives thrust into the spotlight by association and all we can say is we feel the same sense of devastation as the community at this time."
The driver of the truck, Mohinder Singh Bajwa, appeared briefly in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Monday charged with four counts of culpable driving.
He wore a grey jumper and kept his eyes down for most of the hearing.
