Joe Daniel Johnson in court for escaping custody, stealing cars

The driver who bolted after causing a major accident on the Bruce Highway north of Gympie told his lawyer he was ‘getting too old for this’.

A 26-year-old Salvation Army volunteer escaped custody and stole a car before he crashed it into an expensive Tesla car on the Bruce Highway.

Joe Daniel Johnson pleaded guilty to 13 offences on July 25, including escaping custody, stealing cars, committing a hit and run and evading police.

He reappeared via video link in Gympie Magistrates Court on Tuesday for sentencing and was supported by his partner in the public gallery.

Johnson stole a car between January 22 and April 23, 2022, and drove on Centro Way without a licence on April 20, the court heard.

He then escaped custody on April 22, in Araluen and stole a 2016 Toyota Hilux the same day.

This ultimately ended in a car crash.

Joe Daniel Johnson has been sentenced to jail.

A Tesla car was turning left from the Bruce Highway into Purcell Rd at Bells Bridge, when Johnson pulled out directly in front of the turning car, causing a major collision and severe damage to both cars, the court heard.

The other driver was injured and Johnson fled the crash scene, it heard.

A total of three people were injured in the incident.

Johnson also drove without a licence on the same day and was using number plates registered to a different vehicle.

Suncorp Insurance provided a quote of $47,000 for the Tesla car in the court documents, which included the cost of collection and damages.

On July 23, he was caught driving without a licence, driving with no care or attention to other drivers, and evading police by refusing to stop when police gave him a clear direction to stop the car.

The following day, he was found with knuckledusters in his possession.

Lawyer Chris Anderson told the court he had dealt with his client for 10 years now and Johnson was “tired of running” and “getting too old for this”.

Mr Anderson said Johnson panics when he sees flashing police lights, which led him to the “extremely poor” decision of running away from police.

“If you were driving a stolen car, you probably would panic,” Magistrate Chris Callaghan replied.

Johnson was sentenced to two years jail, to be released after eight months on March 24, 2023. His 65 days in pre-sentence custody were declared as time served.

Johnson would not be capable of paying compensation, Mr Callaghan told the court.