UPDATE
A Delahey man has been charged following a crash in Keilor East that killed two people.
Adem Arpaci, 21, was charged with one count of culpable driving and one count of dangerous driving causing death.
Detectives from the Major Collision Investigation Unit arrested the 21-year-old on Thursday afternoon, and are in the process of seizing a vehicle from a car park on Taras Avenue, Altona.
Arpaci, from Delahey, handed himself into police on Thursday afternoon, and was granted bail later that night on strict conditions.
His arrest came more than a week since crash, in which Hoppers Crossing teenagers Ivana Clonaridis, 18, and Harley Churchill, 19, died after their blue Holden ute plunged into a ravine adjacent the EJ Whitten bridge and burst into flames at 1.30am on January 27.
Police had been searching for another vehicle which they believe was travelling with the Holden Ute when it lost control.
Detective Sergeant Steve Hill told an out-of-sessions hearing that the accused, who was driving a silver Ford sedan, entered the Western Ring Road at the Pascoe Vale Road entry, and travelled to the Fullarton Road overpass.
The blue ute, driven by Mr Churchill, then overtook the accused, Detective Sergeant Hill said.
The two cars then accelerated and slowed down, before the overpass.
The blue ute subsequently accelerated, travelling south on the E.J. Whitten Bridge in Keilor East, when it lost control at 160 kilometres per hour, and crashed through a guard rail, before plummeting into the valley below, Detective Sergeant Hill said.
Detective Sergeant Hill told the hearing investigators believed the accused “aided and abetted the driver of the blue Holden ute in the death of the female passenger”.
When asked for his reasons for requesting bail, Arpaci said: “I’m not going anywhere … even if I have to go to jail, I’m not running away or anything like that.”
Apraci lives with his parents and holds a casual job. He has no prior convictions. He was bailed on strict conditions, including not driving a motor vehicle.
Detectives earlier seized the silver Ford from a car park on Taras Avenue, Altona.
The accused has been remanded to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on February 8.
with The Age
