A man has faced court charged with culpable driving causing death and hit-run offences over a crash this week in Melbourne’s south-east that killed a traffic controller and seriously injured another, and failed in a bid to have his name suppressed.
Police on Thursday arrested two men, aged 30 and 25, over the crash in Carrum Downs on Tuesday morning that killed Timmy Rakei, 44, who was working as a traffic controller when he was hit by a Holden Commodore about 7.15am. He died at the scene.
The scene of the crash at Carrum Downs. Credit:Nine News
Mr Rakei’s colleague, a 38-year-old man, was also hit and suffered serious injuries that required surgery. Police said he was released from the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Thursday.
Detectives on Friday charged Jason Mark Ruscoe, 30, with 14 offences including culpable driving causing death, negligently causing serious injury, reckless conduct endangering life, failing to stop after an accident and failing to render assistance.
CCTV also surfaced of police raiding a property on Boundary Road at Carrum Downs on Thursday, where they arrested Mr Ruscoe.
Mr Ruscoe’s charges were laid hours after his alleged associate, Ashley Luke Powell, faced court charged with helping the alleged hit-run driver flee from the crash scene.
Police allege Mr Powell, 25, picked up Mr Ruscoe in a black Hyundai SUV. The badly damaged Commodore remained at the scene.
Mr Ruscoe appeared before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday via a video link from Frankston police station. His lawyer, Karen Sheridan, alleged the accused man was assaulted by police when arrested at his Carrum Downs workplace on Thursday.
Before the hearing began, Mr Ruscoe gestured to a red mark on the right side of his face, to his supporters watching the hearing. At one point he also walked towards a camera so people watching the hearing could see his injuries.
Ms Sheridan told magistrate Andrew McKenna her client suffered possible concussion and a head injury “at the time of his arrest”, and had not had any medical attention or received his dose of methadone while in custody.
Timmy Rakei was killed in Tuesday’s crash in Carrum Downs.
When police circulated images of the suspected Commodore driver in the aftermath of the crash, a mark could be seen on the right side of his face.
Ms Sheridan failed in an attempt to have Mr Ruscoe’s name suppressed. She argued the publication of his name by media would jeopardise his right to a fair trial given the case involved the identity of the Commodore driver. Mr Ruscoe has not entered a plea.
The lawyer said the publication of Mr Ruscoe’s name could also put the safety and welfare of his children and family at risk.
Mr McKenna rejected the application, and said any jurors potentially hearing the case would be instructed to disregard media reports, and that a possible trial was at least a year away. There was also nothing to suggest any members of Mr Ruscoe’s family were involved in the crash.
The magistrate said there was no basis to the lawyer’s application, that it was misconceived and that Ms Sheridan’s arguments were “purely speculative”.
Mr Ruscoe was withdrawing from GHB, ice and alcohol, his lawyer said, and required treatment for anxiety and depression.
His co-accused, Mr Powell, is charged with being an accessory to impede an apprehension or prosecution, driving while disqualified, reckless conduct endangering life, driving dangerously while being pursued by police and failing to stop when directed.
Both men were remanded in custody and did not apply for bail. They are next due to return to court on April 8.
Prosecutors successfully sought a longer period than usual for investigators to prepare the brief of evidence against the accused men, as they are waiting on reports from a reconstruction of the crash and forensic and DNA analyses of the Commodore and Hyundai.
Mr Powell, dressed in a black T-shirt and black shorts, did not say anything during his hearing other than to confirm he could hear deputy chief magistrate Susan Wakeling.
Mr Powell, of Carrum Downs, was arrested when he went to Frankston police station on Thursday afternoon, about an hour after Mr Ruscoe was arrested.
Friends and family of Mr Rakei have remembered him as a gentle and loving family man.
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2021-11-12 02:49:13Z
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