A tradie dad who died in tragic circumstances on Tuesday had received happy personal news several hours earlier.
Peter Sponza, 52, was ‘on top of the world’ after winning a long-fought legal battle, but then was allegedly struck by a silver Holden Commodore driven by a machete-wielding man in the eastern Perth suburb of Bayswater.
Mr Sponza was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital, where he died a short time later.
On Wednesday night, a man, 29, from the state’s Great Southern region, was charged with murder.
He was also charged with a string of other offences, including aggravated assault occasioning bodily harm, reckless driving, being armed in a way that may cause fear, and criminal damage or destruction of property.
The man will spend a second night in custody before appearing in Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Mr Sponza was a tradesman for TNE Civil, which is doing maintenance on the new Bayswater train station.
The company revealed Mr Sponza had got a phone call on Tuesday morning that his kids were coming home to him.
Peter Sponza (pictured) was ‘on top of the world’ before he was allegedly struck by a silver Holden Commodore driven by a machete-wielding man
On Wednesday night, a 29-year-old man was charged with murder over the incident
‘He was on top of the world,’ TNE Civil said in a statement.
‘Pete was a true gentleman, and we are all utterly devastated by the passing of our TNE brother.’
The company described him as a ‘generous, kind and caring man’ who died far too soon.
He had worked for TNE Civil for about a year and ‘was excellent at what he did and so committed to his work,’ the company added.
‘He looked after everyone on his crew, and we all knew it would be a good day if we got to work alongside him,’ it said.
‘Nothing was ever a hassle for him, and he would stop everything he was doing just to help someone else out.’
Mr Sponza’s colleagues saw him being allegedly hit by the Commodore and rushed to his aid to try and save his life.
The statement from his employer added that Mr Sponza was as ‘a family man whose ‘whole world revolved around his kids’.
‘We will be organising a memorial to remember our dear friend; details will be made available at a later date. He will be missed beyond words.’
Shattered workmates who witnessed the confronting scenes have been offered counselling and time off work to grieve, the West Australian reported.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by a friend to help Mr Sponza’s grieving children because ‘he didn’t go home.’
More than $12,000 has already been raised within hours.
Peter Sponza had just been told that he had been granted full custody of his kids when his life was tragically cut short
Witnesses reported seeing a man allegedly armed with a knife halting traffic and acting erratically
Peter Sponza died after a Holden Commodore (pictured) ploughed into him in the Perth suburb of Bayswater
The tragedy happened at around 11am on Tuesday after police were called to reports that a driver was ‘acting erratically’ and ‘potentially armed with a knife’.
Police said the driver allegedly crashed into a Ford Ranger on Skew Road before getting out of the car with a knife.
Moments after he got back in the car, he allegedly fatally struck the Mr Sponza on Rose Avenue.
Police arrested the driver near the scene of the fatal crash a short time later after he allegedly crashed into a set of traffic lights.
Two young children were found in the backseat, who were unharmed.
Local man Wayne Small said the Commodore driver waved a machete at the driver of the Ford Ranger before slashing the car’s tyres.
‘He’s banging his machete on the driver’s window saying, “I’m gonna kill you”,’ Mr Small said.
‘He went around and stabbed all the four tyres so he couldn’t leave. He got back into his car, into his Commodore, and just took off.’
