Tyler Russell Wood: Accused groper denied bail, calls to paramedics cost $327k

A Lara dad accused of sexually assaulting paramedics called triple-0 more than 200 times to obtain drugs, a court has heard.

Tyler Russell Wood is accused of sexually assaulting paramedics and making more than 200 phone calls to triple-0 with the intention of obtaining drugs to feed his addiction.

A Lara dad accused of sexually assaulting paramedics and making more than 200 fraudulent calls to emergency services to feed a drug habit, has been denied bail for a second time.

Tyler Russell Wood, 34, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court via videolink on Friday from Ravenhall Correctional Centre, facing charges including sexual assault, making false calls to emergency workers and assaulting emergency workers on duty.

Mr Wood is accused of making 205 calls to emergency services between January 1 and September 28, 2023 under false pretenses to get drugs, and on at least five occasions is alleged to have groped female paramedics.

The alleged calls wasted more than $327,000 of taxpayer money.

Magistrate Peter Mellas found Mr Wood was an “unnacceptable risk” and denied bail.

Detective Senior Constable Regan McKeown-Munn, the officer in charge of the case against Mr Wood, was cross-examined during the hearing, said police “strongly opposed” bail.

Detective McKeown-Munn told the court she hadn’t had a chance to conduct a thorough check on a proposed address.

The court heard Mr Wood had been remanded in custody on January 11 this year, and was subsequently denied bail at a hearing on January 19.

Mr Wood’s defence lawyer, Ryan Robertson, told the court his client was better off receiving treatment for his drug addiction “now, rather than later” and his behaviour could be managed if released.

“The reality is, he will be released one day,” Mr Robertson said, noting that his client was now “on Victoria Police’s radar”.

Mr Robertson told the court that despite Mr Wood allegedly making hundreds of calls, there was only five reported instances of sexual assault.

“What does that end up being, two per cent (of cases) he goes and ends up assaulting someone?” Mr Robertson said.

Mr Wood had no history of sexual offences prior to the alleged offending, Mr Robertson said, and said had a supportive family who were prepared to supervise him if released.

“It’s often the case that when someone is remanded, the whole family suffers,” Mr Robertson said.

Mr Wood’s mother and aunt both testified on his behalf at the hearing, telling the court they would call the police if they caught him breaking bail conditions.

The court heard that Mr Wood’s father died in November, which had had a significant impact on the family.

Opposing bail, a prosecutor told the court the alleged calls took a “significant toll” on ambulance Victoria.

The court heard that Mr Wood made calls using other people’s phones, pay phones and from locations in Melbourne, in order to avoid measures put in place to curb his calls, and allegedly continued even after receiving two warning letters from Ambulance Victoria.

Magistrate Peter Mellas agreed with the prosecution, and was skeptical potential risks to the community could be mitigated.

Mr Mellas accepted Mr Wood had a supportive family, but said Mr Wood’s alleged behaviour was such that even “genuine, capable people ‘’ cannot pick up on it.

“His own mother, living with him day in, day out... isn’t able to pick up that he is in the throes of this addiction,” Mr Mellas said.

Mr Mellas said the alleged offending was a “serious example of repeated, serious offending”, and was especially troubling given ambulance resources were stretched thin.

The matter will return to court at a later date.

Originally published as Tyler Russell Wood: Accused groper denied bail, calls to paramedics cost $327k