A Victorian man has been arrested for stealing a motor vehicle and a string of other offences after Police tracked him over 900 kilometres through north -Queensland.
Police pursued the driver of a stolen vehicle just before midday on March 1 after he stole petrol from a service station at Camooweal.
He was monitored through Mount Isa and Cloncurry before stealing a vehicle in Julia Creek and driving all the way to Charter’s Towers.
The 23-year-old man has been charged with various offences including unlawful use of a motor vehicle and stealing, and has been remanded in custody, facing court on March 9.
Acting Detective Inspector Sean Wade from Mount Isa Police says it was not a “police chase” as police were unsure whether the man carried a firearm.
He described it as an intercept operation involving police teams across the district.
“Upon intercepting the vehicle in Camooweal for a fuel drive off, the vehicle drove in an erratic manner and sped off towards Mount Isa at a rate of knots,” Inspector Wade said.
Unfortunately police were not able to catch up to him in Mount Isa, and the vehicle continued on to Julia Creek where the offender jumped out and stole another vehicle.
Inspector Wade blamed radio communications for their failure to apprehend the driver in Mount Isa.
“Once officers in Camooweal reached radio reception they notified Mount Isa and Townsville police,” Inspector Wade said.
“We tried to intercept him before he got into Mount Isa but due to the tyranny of distance and the lack of communication, he got through before we received that information,” he said.
Police put interception strategies in place outside Cloncurry, which were ineffective in stopping the car.
Inspector Wade said police kept their distance, as a chase could have put the public’s safety at risk.
“When we try and intercept vehicles we have considerations to take into account, including the safety of our officers and the public.”
“We have to consider all the possible implications of intercepting, what the offence might be, who they are, whether we can readily ID them, whether they are carrying any weapons.”
Inspector Wade said that in rural towns, there may only be one or two officers covering a lot of ground.
“We don’t have police on every corner in small country towns unfortunately, and as luck would have it police weren’t in the location where he dumped the vehicle, so we weren’t able to apprehend him before he got into another vehicle,” Inspector Wade said.
Residents of Julia Creek advised the police about the second stolen vehicle, and Inspector Wade said members of the public are often instrumental in solving crimes in the rural areas of Queensland.
“We were able to then identity the vehicle that he had stolen, and we were also able to identify that he was not in possession of a firearm,” Inspector Wade said.
Police for Richmond, Hughenden, and Charters Towers took over the operation once it was established they had enough resources.
The abandoned vehicle was located early on Thursday morning by an off duty police officer west of Charters Towers.
Shortly after this the man was arrested at a business in Charters Towers and taken into custody.
He has been charged with three counts of failing to stop a motor vehicle, one charge of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, one charge of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, one charge of bringing stolen goods into Queensland for the second stolen car, one charge of stealing, and various other traffic offences.
The Victoria man is due to appear in court in Townsville on March 9.
