Overview
- Queensland Police allege a 59-year-old used a single ratchet strap to hitch a 1.5‑tonne caravan to a Nissan X‑Trail at Tallai about 5:30pm Tuesday before it overtook the car and both crashed into a ditch roughly 80 metres from the driveway.
- The three children inside the caravan, aged 7, 5 and 2, were uninjured after their mother climbed onto the vehicle and pulled them out through a skylight, according to police.
- The family’s female Rottweiler was run over during the tow and sustained head injuries and broken legs before being taken to a vet.
- The man was taken to hospital as a precaution then charged with unlawful use and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and is due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on November 10.
- Police say the parties knew each other, with media reporting a rental arrangement on the property had recently broken down, and the accused later told 7NEWS he believed he was only moving the caravan and claimed he did not know the children were inside.