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The Uber driver accused of the late-night hit-and-run death of a high-flying young lawyer is living as a virtual recluse – after his own family abandoned him.
Former real estate agent Zisi Kokotatsios, 63, was granted bail on Saturday after he was charged with killing 28-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer Mitch East.
Mr East was found dead on Fletcher Street in the ritzy beachside suburb of Tamarama shortly after 4am on Sunday, March 17.
Police allege Mr Kokotatsios was illegally using his phone while driving to pick up a rideshare customer.
Mr Kokotatsios spent a night in a cell on remand before returning to his Bankstown home on Saturday, where he now relies on the charity of his neighbours.
Uber driver Zisi Kokotatsios (pictured) has been granted bail after being charged over a hit-and-run death
A neighbour was seen delivering groceries in a trolley to Mr Kokotatsios (above, with the cart) at home in Sydney’s south-west on Tuesday
The former businessman was seen pushing a trolley full of groceries to his home after they were delivered to him by a sympathetic neighbour on Tuesday afternoon.
The sighting comes after a relative of the former real estate agent and one-time Qantas engineer revealed a deep family rift which has left Mr Kokotatsios isolated.
His sister-in-law Kathy Kokotatsios revealed even his children were no longer in regular contact with him and relatives had not spoken to him since his arrest.
‘He is my brother-in-law, but we don’t have a relationship with him,’ Ms Kokotatsios told Daily Mail Australia from her western Sydney home.
‘We haven’t been each other’s lives for a long time. We haven’t spoken to him since his arrest – his own children don’t even speak to him.’
Mr Kokotatsios handed himself into Granville Police Station five days after the hit-and-run.
Lawyer Mitch East is pictured with his partner Natasha Dunsbee-Brown. Mr East tragically died in Tamarama, in Sydney’s east on Sunday, March 17
Officers are pictured processing the crime scene in Tamarama on Sunday after the alleged hit-and-run
The court was told that CCTV from a neighbour showed the car ‘lifted up’ when it ran over Mr East
During a hearing at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday, the police prosecutor said surveillance footage had captured the moment Mr Kokotatsios allegedly struck Mitch East and his car was ‘lifted up’.
‘An audible crash sound was captured on CCTV in the vicinity of the scene and the vehicle was seen to slow significantly before fleeing,’ he said.
‘There can be no doubt the driver of the vehicle knew he had struck something.’
Despite the best efforts of paramedics, Mr East was pronounced dead at the scene.
The court heard the 28-year-old lawyer had been ‘lying down on the street’ at the moment of impact.
Police allege Mr Kokotatsios had been distracted because he was using his mobile phone while driving, so he didn’t see Mr East on the road.
‘The accused did the wrong thing and, because of that, someone has died,’ the police prosecutor said.
He alleged the rideshare driver did not stop to check on or assist the injured man, but instead kept driving.
Mr East was found with critical head and chest injuries by a passerby in Fletcher Street, Tamarama
‘If he had stopped and had a look, he would have seen a person laying there dying,’ the prosecutor said.
He noted Mr Kokotatsios had been charged with using his mobile phone while driving in December last year, which he claimed showed a pattern of disregard for road safety.
The court heard the rideshare driver relies on glasses sometimes when driving.
The magistrate agreed there were ‘difficulties’ with the prosecution’s case related to the cause of Mr East’s death and ‘what (Mr Kokotatsios) was doing when he was driving’.
‘That’s all for another day,’ he said.
He granted the rideshare driver bail under strict conditions, which require him to report to police once a week and not to approach any point of international departure.
He faces charges of failing to stop and assist after vehicle impact causing death, dangerous driving occasioning death – drive manner dangerous, negligent driving (occasioning death) and driver use mobile phone when not permitted.
However, Mr Kokotatsios’ lawyer Mohamad Sakr argued police ‘lack substantial evidence’ to prove his client was illegally using his mobile phone, which was held in a permitted holster.
He rejected the prosecutor’s claim that the case against his client was ‘compelling’, arguing there were a number of issues’ and ‘definite concerns’ with the prosecution’s case.
‘It’s accepted Mr Kokotatsios hit something,’ he said.
‘We don’t know … that it was in fact my client that killed this young man.’
Mr Sakr questioned whether the police had viable evidence about whether Mr Kokotatsios’ actions ‘did in fact cause death’.
He said the alleged victim had posed a risk to himself by lying on the ground, and claimed his client would have stopped to render aid if he knew he had hit a person.
He will return to court in May.
– With NCA Newswire
