Drunk, shirtless man dodges traffic with stolen scooter

A man with no criminal history has run up a string of offences against his previously unblemished record

AN ODD string of crimes committed by a 24-year-old man with no criminal history had Gympie magistrate Chris Callaghan scratching his head in court last week.

From fraudulently using a debit card to being caught wandering the street, half naked with a stolen scooter, Tyler Dennis Ward of Chatsworth only gave “stupidity” as an excuse for his sudden offending.

On December 28 last year, Ward was found jumping in front of cars near Robert Rd at Chatsworth while highly intoxicated, the court heard.

He was shirtless, covered in cuts and was holding a scooter and vehicle’s light bar that turned out be stolen, the prosecution said.

Tyler Ward (pictured) told police he couldn't remember anything when he was bizarrely found wandering drunk and shirtless on the road at Chatsworth with a stolen scooter. Photo: Facebook

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It was four months after Ward stole a trailer from a vehicle on the corner of Langton and Brisbane Rds.

He had cut the trailer about 8am on September 8 and towed it away, only returning it nearby months later after he heard word had “gotten around” about it.

On September 10, Ward stole a packet of tobacco and cigarettes from a Kilkivan store and on September 28 used someone else’s debit card to pay for $101.40 worth of goods at the Gympie West Store.

“You reached 24 and all of a sudden started committing offences,” Mr Callaghan said.

“You’ve been a decent citizen before doing these things – which you say you’ve done through stupidity.”

Callaghan put Ward on probation for 12 months “so he could get counselling to get himself straightened out”.

He was ordered to pay $244 in compensation.

No conviction was recorded.

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