A fatally injured man allegedly abandoned by his friends was left alone in the back seat of a crashed car for at least 30 minutes before he was found by a passer-by, a court has heard.
Owen Sugay​ suffered serious injuries when the Subaru Impreza he was a back-seat passenger in crashed into a concrete pole in Wollert, north-east of Melbourne, between 5.35am and 5.45am last Friday.
Mr Sugay was still alive when a passer-by came across the car in Bindts Road about 6.15am, Melbourne Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday, and was treated by ambulance paramedics soon after, but he died at the scene.
Police allege Mr Sugay's friends, Michael Glen Ashlin, 33, and a woman in her 20s, ran away after the crash and failed to call emergency services. Police last week said Mr Sugay might have survived had he received medical treatment earlier.
Mr Ashlin was arrested last Saturday night and charged with culpable driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death and failing to render assistance. The woman was also arrested but was released without charge.
Police were on Wednesday successful in having a magistrate order Mr Ashlin to undergo a forensic medical examination, to determine whether he was driving the Subaru. Mr Ashlin owns the car and is suspected of driving it erratically before the crash.
Detective Senior Constable Lauren McNiece​ said investigators wanted to know if there were abrasions on Mr Ashlin's body, consistent with marks a seatbelt would leave, and check his height, because the driver's seat was adjusted for someone taller than the woman, who is 152 centimetres.
Detective Senior Constable McNiece said the woman told police Mr Ashlin was driving and she was a passenger. Another man was a passenger in the car that morning but was dropped off before the crash.
Telephone records showed Mr Ashlin and the woman made a series of quick calls after the crash, the detective said, and police believe they were trying to arrange with others to be picked up so they could avoid arrest.
When Mr Ashlin was arrested, he was found with clothing he had worn earlier, when filmed by a CCTV camera.
Magistrate Jonathan Klestadt​ was satisfied there was sufficient evidence Mr Ashlin was driving, and ordered he undergo the forensic examination. Mr Ashlin did not oppose the application.
Police say the Subaru was unregistered and had false number plates.
A report into the cause of Mr Sugay's death, a mechanical examination of the car and a reconstruction of the crash would all take up to 12 weeks to complete, prosecutor Adrian Trott said.
Mr Ashlin was remanded in custody to return to court on May 16.