A QUEENSLAND man has admitted to leading police on a pursuit in a stolen car that reached speeds of up to 180km an hour between Uralla and Tamworth.
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Joseph Patrick Nanscawen pleaded guilty in the dock of Tamworth Local Court on Tuesday morning to police pursuit under Skye’s Law, drink driving, and receiving stolen property outside of NSW.
On the guilty pleas, police withdrew a charge of driving in a manner dangerous, and the 23-year-old is yet to enter a plea to driving while suspended.
Nanscawen told officers he drank six stubbies of VB beer before he was intercepted by highway patrol officers on Monday morning on the New England Highway, south of Uralla.
He recorded a blood alcohol reading of .079 – just below the mid-range reading.
Magistrate Roger Prowse refused bail, ordering Nanscawen to remain in custody after he said the Toomulla-local put the public in danger during the chase.
According to police facts, Nanscawen overtook three cars in a row on double lines near Bendemeer in a bid to avoid police, reaching speeds up to 180km per hour along the highway.
He will be sentenced in October.
The chase was triggered after officers attempted to pull the Mazda 6 sedan over for a random traffic stop before Nanscawen took off.
The chase lasted all the way to the bottom of the Moonbi Ranges after one attempt to lay road spikes to stop the car had to be abandoned because of the amount of traffic on the highway at Bendemeer.
Officers successfully deployed road spikes at the bottom of the Moonbis, and Nanscawen swerved to the side of the road to avoid them and drove into a table drain.
He was arrested at the scene.
Checks revealed the car had been reported stolen from Bundaberg in Queensland.
Highway chase ends in charges
A QUEENSLAND man has been charged with allegedly leading police on a pursuit from south of Uralla to the outskirts of Tamworth.
A 23-year-old man is facing a string of charges after he arrested on the side of the New England Highway near Moonbi on Monday morning, after allegedly crashing a stolen car.
Highway patrol police attempted to stop the white Mazda 6 on the highway south of Uralla when they allege the driver sped off, driving south.
A pursuit was initiated and several other police from Tamworth including general duties and detectives joined the police operation.
Specialist officers deployed road spikes near the Moonbi hill in an attempt to the stop the vehicle before the driver attempted to avoid them and crashed into a ditch on the side of the highway.
The man, who lives in Toomulla in Queensland, was arrested at the scene and checks revealed the car had been reported stolen from Bundaberg in Queensland.
The man was taken to Tamworth Police Station where he also allegedly failed a breath analysis.
He was questioned and charged with police pursuit Skye’s Law, driving in a manner dangerous, low-range PCA, driving while suspended and receiving or bringing suspected stolen property into another state.
He’s refused bail to front court on Tuesday.
The car had to be towed from the scene.