Jamie Roy Warner fronts Ipswich court over alleged front-end loader crime spree

An Ipswich man who allegedly went on a bizarre front-end-loader crime spree has fronted court after police found him hiding in a creek bed.

A man who allegedly smashed into an Ipswich motorcycle shop driving a stolen front-end loader and made off with two bikes has been charged after he was found hiding in a creek bed.

Trains along the Ipswich line had to be suspended on Friday morning after Jamie Roy Warner, 41, allegedly led police on a wild cross-suburb chase, leaving a trail of broken fences and property along the way.

Police were called to the business along Brisbane S in West Ipswich at 4am following reports the front of the shop had been smashed with a front-end loader.

Update: Ipswich/Rosewood line trains suspended Rosewood & Darra stations due to an incident requiring emergency services. Delays up to 60 mins. Alternative transport has been arranged to transport customers between Rosewood & Darra. https://t.co/QHIK19xxtk#TLAlert#TLIpswichlinepic.twitter.com/gOKwulWFCu

— TransLink (@TransLinkSEQ) October 14, 2021

When police arrived, Warner allegedly dropped two motorbikes he had loaded on to a large metal boom, forcing police to take evasive action, before fleeing the scene.

The Dinmore resident allegedly drove dangerously through several suburban streets, damaging fences and property along the way, before crashing through a gate and entering the Queensland Rail corridor at West Ipswich.

A police spokesman said officers immediately contacted Queensland Rail and the network was shut down.

A stationary train at Ipswich Railway Station sustained minor damage.

Warner exited the train lane near Dinmore station and tried to travel along land before becoming bogged in a nearby creek.

He allegedly fled on foot and was tracked by a police dog squad unit to a creek bed, where he was found hiding in long grass just before 5am.

A stolen digger beside the train line which has caused the suspension of Ipswich/Rosewood line services. Picture: 9 News

Warner was arrested at the scene and was charged with multiple offences including enter premises and commit an indictable offence by break, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, trespass on a railway, two counts each of unlawful use of a motor vehicle and wilful damage and one count of obstruct police and evade police.

He faced Ipswich Magistrates Court on Friday where he was denied bail.

Queensland Rail head of southeast Queensland Scott Riedel said the incident had caused extensive damage to the line, and QR would also be investigating.

“The damage includes at least eight sets of points, as well as railway track and corridor fencing,” he said.

About 13 stations remained affected by the line suspension on Friday afternoon.

“Repairs on the Darra to Redbank section are complete, however the remainder will take our crews some time to repair,” he said.

“This means buses will replace trains between Redbank and Rosewood stations for the remainder of today.

“This is a police matter and Queensland Rail will also do its own investigation, but our focus is the safety of the community and making sure our customers can get where they need to go.”

The excavator beside the rail tracks at Dinmore. Picture: Jessica Baker

Ultimate Motorbikes Ipswich dealer principal Garvan Cannon said he arrived at the shop just before 4am to find a “trail of destruction” and a pair of Kawasaki KX450F motorcycles missing, both of which were worth about $12,800.

“At 10 to four this morning I had a phone call from the Instant Security Company,” Mr Cannon said.

“They alerted me that there (were) multiple alarms going off in the store, so I left my residence and headed out this way.

“On the way out, the police called me and said that there was a tractor fleeing our store and they were in pursuit of that.”

Once he arrived on scene, Mr Cannon checked the store’s security footage and saw a front-end loader had broken through the shopfront, picked up two motorbikes, and driven away with them up Brisbane St.

The aftermath of the raid at Ultimate Motorbikes in Ipswich. Picture: Jessica

“I’ve then later recovered them after the police have found the bikes up the road,” he said. “So I’ve got them back now thankfully but they’re destroyed.”

A resident at Jackson Ct, Dinmore, Wayne Bond, said he arrived home at 4am on Friday to find police “everywhere” and a tractor behind his friend’s property.

“Old mate jumped the fence … and went over and hid behind a pole over here,” Mr Bond said.

“That’s when all the police got him and cornered him across the road.”

The Ipswich and Rosewood train lines were facing up to hour-long delays and were suspended between Ipswich and Darra due to the incident.

Alternative transport had to be arranged by TransLink and the train lines were expected to remain closed until Queensland Rail had conducted a full inspection.