Lui Matalio Dylan Tiaaleaiga dies after being found unresponsive at Maryborough Correctional Centre

A young prisoner and former star footy player who was at the centre of a dramatic arrest in which six cars were damaged has been confirmed dead after he was found “unresponsive” in his cell at a Queensland jail.

Dee Tiaaleaiga was loved by family and friends.

A young prisoner who was once a rising league star has been confirmed dead after he was found unresponsive in a prison cell at Maryborough Correctional Centre on Wednesday.

Lui Matalio Dylan (Dee) Tiaaleaiga, a 30-year-old inmate, was discovered in a single-occupancy cell and transported to hospital by Queensland Ambulance Service before he was pronounced deceased.

The former Newcastle Knights player is understood to have turned to crime in his mid 20s and previously escaped custody at Rockhampton.

Queensland Corrective Services has confirmed it will assist police with preparing a report for the Coroner.

“Our condolences go to the man’s family and friends,” a spokeswoman from the centre said on Thursday night.

In is understood he died from natural causes.

Tiaaleaiga is being remembered as a warrior “as strong as 10 men” who fought his demons “of equal strength”.

He had been in prison since he was arrested in dramatic circumstances on August 3, 2019.

It was a period described by his family as the worst time of his life.

Defence barrister Jordan Ahlstrand told the court at the time Tiaaleaiga lost his grandfather, who he was very close with, in May 2019 and then his sister died after a battle with cancer in July.

He said the Emmaus College Year 12 graduate and talented rugby league player, who played for Newcastle Knights for one year in 2011, had not touched drugs or alcohol since he was 18 years old but went on a downward spiral after the deaths.

Mr Ahlstrand said Tiaaleaiga first tried methamphetamines after he absconded from the hospital and was high during the driving crime spree.

Six cars were damaged and charges included possessing a homemade hand gun, stealing a car, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing damage, serious assault, robbery with personal violence, three evading police, and one count of possessing ammunition.

His criminal record included two road rage assaults and an armed robbery with violence of the Kalka Hotel bottle shop, along with being involved in a post rugby union match brawl on Anzac Day between Colts and Brothers in 2015.

The once talented footballer spent time in three different prisons following his arrest.

Dee Tiaaleaiga pictured with his daughter at a birthday party.

Police feared Tiaaleaiga so much that when they went to apprehend him, they approached him in a group of about seven, armed with tasers – but not even that could stop him.

Three normal tasers were deployed but didn't work, so a more powerful taser was deployed to apprehend Tiaaleaiga.

Tiaaleaiga was previously jailed for his road rage assault of a driver, 64, after the victim's car rolled back into Tiaaleaiga's and he pulled the victim from the car, kicking and punching him in the head and upper body many times.

Former Newcastle Knights player Lui Matalio 'Dylan' Tiaaleaiga, 26, was arrested in dramatic circumstances.

A court earlier heard Tiaaleaiga escaped police custody while being treated at Rockhampton Hospital.

He wasn't spotted by police until he stole a ute parked near roadworks south of Gladstone.

He drove dangerously to evade police, mounting footpaths, running red lights, driving on the wrong side of the road for 100 metres, back onto the correct side before entering a round about and then back onto the wrong side of the road.

Two police vehicles and four civilian cars were damaged in the crime spree.

Tiaaleaiga's dangerous driving came to an end when he ran a red light at the Dawson Highway and Aerodrome Drive intersection and was clipped by another vehicle, which sent his vehicle into a spin resulting in it colliding with two others.

In total, he caused damage to two police vehicles and four civilian cars during his spree – including the stolen work ute which was missing one tyre, another was running on its rim and a third was "unserviceable" in the end.