Man dead, teens charged after crash with allegedly stolen Jeep in Burwood

One man is dead and three teenagers have been charged after an allegedly stolen car crashed in Melbourne’s east.

An innocent driver was making a right-hand turn off Warrigal Rd onto Highbury Rd in Burwood when his hatchback was T-boned by an allegedly stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee at 7pm on Tuesday.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Innocent driver killed in Melbourne crash.

His car landed in a front yard and residents rushed to help, but there was little they could do for the 28-year-old Ashburton man and he died at the scene.

“There was an almighty crash,” resident Peter told 7NEWS. “When I came out, the car was right here in the garden.

“Someone came from over the road and stopped and said: ‘Someone is trapped in the car, there’s nothing we can do at the moment’.”

The Jeep that hit the car continued up the road for a short distance and hit a tree.

Up to four males from that car fled on foot while two girls, both aged 15 and both on bail, were arrested as they allegedly tried to run away. The girls were taken to hospital under police guard and were later charged with theft of a motor vehicle.

Both were bailed to appear before a children’s court at a later date.

Meanwhile, a 17-year-old boy was arrested in Malvern East at 8.30pm on Wednesday.

He has since been charged with culpable driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death, failure to stop and render assistance, theft of motor vehicle and unlicensed driving.

He has been remanded in custody to appear before a children’s court on Thursday.

Police praised a male bystander who held one of the 15-year-old girls until police arrived and said the second girl stayed with her at the scene. Three males remain on the run.

Detective Senior Sergeant Christian Von Tunk said the males were believed to have fled through a nearby park and officers have located gloves in the area.

He said the Jeep in which the group was travelling was allegedly stolen in an aggravated burglary in Cranbourne South on Friday and was then used in an armed robbery in Ormond and another in Ripponlea on June 30.

On Monday, police tried to intercept the vehicle, but it took off and was unable to be located.

“When fatal collisions occur, they are totally frustrating for us. This is another totally preventable collision,” Von Tunk said.

“The impact was tremendous. It was a high-speed impact. They would have known someone would have been hurt in that vehicle ... to leave a person either injured or killed is cowardly, it’s absolutely cowardly.”

‘Absolutely devastating’

Housing Minister Harriet Shing said the collision was “absolutely devastating” and asked anyone who had information to come forward.

“We want to make sure that we are able to understand what happened,” she told reporters.

“We have the lowest youth offending rate in Australia, however, we also know that it is a very small group who are persistent offenders.”

Child and youth crime has continued to rise in Victoria over the past year, according to figures from the Crime Statistics Agency in June. The number of offenders in the 15 to 17 age cohort in the 12-month period has risen by almost 25 per cent to 15,495.

However, a core group of repeat offenders committed more serious and violent crimes, including robberies, aggravated burglaries, and car thefts, predominantly in the east and outer-southeast suburbs, the data revealed.

Anyone who witnessed the incident, has CCTV, dashcam footage or any other information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

- with AAP