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SA Police Treat Fatal Eyre Highway Crash as Death in Custody

The death-in-custody classification triggers internal review processes alongside a coronial probe.

Overview

  • Police say a 33-year-old Hilton man died at the scene after an allegedly stolen blue Ford crashed shortly after road spikes were deployed near Kimba about 2:45pm Saturday.
  • Officers were first alerted after a petrol drive-off in Port Augusta around 10:30am, briefly initiated a pursuit, then terminated it for safety reasons.
  • A police helicopter later tracked the vehicle from Iron Knob Road onto the Eyre Highway toward Kimba after multiple sightings near Whyalla.
  • Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said the car reached about 180km/h, at times drove on the wrong side of the road, and narrowly missed an officer as it sped from a rest stop before crashing less than two kilometres away.
  • Major Crash and SA Police’s Internal Investigation Section have opened inquiries, with investigators returning to the scene, and the Eyre Highway between Kimba and Iron Knob has reopened.