A man accused of fleeing in a stolen van from police and crashing into multiple cars in a high-speed erratic chase across south-east and west Melbourne on 11 July has been refused bail.
Aleksander Misovic, 36, appeared on a court video link from his hospital bed under police guard facing more than 60 charges.
They included car theft, multiple counts of reckless conduct endangering life, aggravated reckless exposure of a police officer to risk by driving, dangerous driving while pursued by police and bail offences.
With crutches beside his bed, he was reportedly suffering a broken femur and broken hip.
This was allegedly due to jumping from the moving van and being struck by a police car at the end of the pursuit in Point Cook.
Misovic was days away from being possibly discharged from hospital.
His defence lawyer argued there was a “compelling reason” for granting bail, given Misovic was unable to drive due to his injuries.
In refusing bail, magistrate Michelle Mykytowcyz said Misovic was an unacceptable risk to public safety.
He had “weaponised” the vehicle in “one of the most serious examples of this sort of driving I’ve seen before this court”, she said.
She noted the alleged high speeds, driving on the wrong side of the road, collisions and failing to stop for police.
It was “simply staggering” others weren’t injured on Monash Freeway, Princes Highway and Dandenong Road as well as suburban areas for two hours during the day, she said.
More would have been injured if they didn’t drive “defensively” to evade him.
At the time, Misovic was on four counts of bail – including two counts that banned him from driving.
He’d been released from prison just three weeks earlier, the judge noted.
His 27 pages of criminal priors included dangerous driving while pursued by police and reckless conduct endangering serious injury as well as 27 bail offences.
Detective Senior Constable Tyler Sherlock of Victoria Police’s Melbourne Serious Crime Team said that Misovic had burgled an office on St Kilda Road, and stole a van outside the National Gallery of Victoria hours before the pursuit.
At the time, its owner was cleaning outside the van but had left the keys in the ignition with the engine running, acoording to police.
About 9.20am, the van was spotted in Sunshine by the police Air Wing. It had been located by tracking the owner’s laptop, which was inside the van.
It failed to stop under police direction. Instead it fled at speed, erratically mounting median strips, running red lights, and police lost sight of it, Det Sen Const Shylock said.
Police say they tried to hem in Misovic in a Docklands car park about 11.30am.
He allegedly reversed at speed while an officer had his arm inside the window and forced another officer to take evasive action.
CCTV shown to the court depicted the van ramming through bollards and a sign to escape the car park.
Ms Mykytowcyz noted pedestrians in the footage, including a woman pushing a child in a pram soon after Misovic left.
At another point in Port Melbourne, he allegedly rammed a police car.
He fled onto Monash Freeway up to Eastlink in Dandenong North.
He reached speeds up to 150km/h, swerving around vehicles and driving in the emergency lane, Det Sen Const Sherlock said.
In police Air Wing footage shown to the court, the van ran a red light on Dandenong and Koornang roads, Carnegie and a small blue car crumpled head-on into the side of the van.
The van sped off via a service lane, not stopping to render assistance, Det Sen Const Sherlock said.
It was not known if the driver of the car suffered injuries, the court heard.
In Southbank, Misovic struck 16 cars as he split between lanes 3 and 4 of stop-start traffic, police told the court.
On the West Gate Freeway, a driver allegedly veered into another vehicle as he tried to avoid Misovic from ramming his vehicle from behind.
Despite the van losing a front wheel, Misovic allegedly continued speeding at 125 km/h in Point Cook and rammed a carload of four people, causing their vehicle to spin.
This was minutes before he jumped from the van at 1.10pm and was arrested.
Det Sen Const Sherlock said Misovic later confirmed he was using meth as well as other drugs.
According to a defence lawyer, Misovic spiralled into drug addiction after taking opioid medication due to an earlier motorbike accident.
Ms Mykytowcyz said she wasn’t satisfied there was compelling reason for bail.
Misovic was a real risk of endangering public safety, given the current allegations and past behaviour, she said.
She noted the prosecution case was strong. If the charges were proven, Misovic faced a lengthy jail term – longer than his likely remand period.
Misovic was scheduled to next appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 7 October.
