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A tragic incident unfolded in the coastal suburb of Shorncliffe when a 17-year-old reportedly lost control of a black Ford Focus in a boat ramp parking area. The vehicle struck 38-year-old Bevon Sapolu, leading to a devastating outcome.
The teenager is also accused of crashing into a tree and barreling through the fence of a nearby furniture store during the incident.
In a heartbreaking twist, Sapolu’s partner of two decades, Deb, witnessed the accident as she was arriving to pick him up for a dinner outing.
“He was such a giving and caring person,” Deb expressed in a statement to 9News. “He loved his children and was trying so hard to make everything work.”
“He loved his children, I knew he was trying so hard to do well.”
Sapolu had been sleeping rough but had found employment learning to be a deckhand on a seafood trawler docked nearby.
His fellow crew remembered him fondly.
“He’s been the nicest guy I’ve had on the boat, very honest, very willing,” trawler owner Terry Garratt told 9News.
“Everybody thought very well of Bevon, he was a lovely man.”
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