Eddie Jay Broadway fined and ordered to pay restitution after concealing vodka bottle in his pants

A Gladstone man and his accomplice stole a bottle of liquor each from Dan Murphy’s in September. But only one has been caught.

A Gladstone man refused to reveal the name of the accomplice he burgled a liquor store with to police.

Eddie Jay Broadway, 24, told police what he did was stupid and he was drunk at the time, but would not identify his co-offender as he was “no snitch”.

Broadway pleaded guilty to two counts of unauthorised dealing with shop goods (maximum $150) in Gladstone Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Merrilyn Hoskins said Broadway entered Dan Murphy’s on August 9, around 10.16am, and headed for the spirit aisle.

The store manager reviewed CCTV footage after flagging Broadway as a suspicious customer, and saw Broadway take a bottle of vodka into the cold room and put it down his pants.

Eddie Jay Broadway, 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of unauthorised dealing with shop goods (maximum $150) in Gladstone Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Broadway then started to walk out of the room, however, the bottle fell out of his pants and onto the ground.

He left the store without the bottle after being confronted by a member of the public.

However, Broadway was not finished there as he returned on September 4, around 7.30pm, this time with an accomplice.

The manager this time saw both men place a bottle of liquor each down their pants and walk through the registers without paying and run towards Harvey Road Tavern.

Gladstone Police released CCTV from the stealing offence at Dan Murphy's Gladstone on the 4th September 2021.

Gladstone police shared Dan Murphy’s CCTV footage and called for assistance from the public on September 5 to help identify the perpetrators.

Having received a large amount of intelligence from both police and the community they identified Broadway as the offender.

On September 14, police attended Broadway’s house and saw him try to run out his back door before being intercepted.

Broadway said he was intoxicated at the time of stealing the liquor and what he did was stupid.

Magistrate Bevan Manthey convicted and fined Broadway $800 and ordered restitution of $121.54 be paid to Dan Murphy’s. Convictions were recorded.