Luke Ethan Mengel faces Toowoomba Magistrates Court for breaking into Toowoomba Regional Council depot and stealing fuel

The police dog squad were called to track down a man who had broken into a Toowoomba Regional Council depot to steal fuel.

A former Toowoomba Regional Council employee broke into a depot of his former employer and stole diesel from a council vehicle because he was hard up for cash, a court has been told.

Police were alerted to the break-in at the depot on Kingsthorpe Haden Road near Haden just after 8pm on August 21, 2022, police prosecutor Sergeant Julia Wheaton said.

CCTV cameras captured Luke Ethan Mengel crawl underneath a backhoe loader and siphon diesel from the machine.

The 29-year-old tried to flee on foot from the scene, but Sergeant Wheaton said officers from the dog squad managed to track him down shortly after.

Mengel faced Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to trespass, wilful damage, receiving tainted property and two counts of stealing.

Sergeant Wheaton said Mengel told officers he was “hard up for cash”, and that he was hoping to sell some of the diesel he stole.

“The vehicle was damaged as a result of him pulling out the bung and releasing the fuel,” Sergeant Wheaton said.

A search of Mengel’s unregistered vehicle parked at the depot uncovered a set of registration plates that were stolen from a Volkswagen, and that Mengel was involved in a fuel drive off in Oakey on August 12.

Mengels’s solicitor Kirstie Smith said her client, who was previously employed by TRC, was on probation and a suspended four month jail term at the time of the offences, and that previous media coverage of his last offending led him to believe no-one would give him a job.

Magistrate Louise Shephard activated the four month jail term handed to him on June 8, setting an immediate parole release date. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the Oakey service station of $73.47, which was referred to SPER.

Originally published as Luke Ethan Mengel faces Toowoomba Magistrates Court for breaking into Toowoomba Regional Council depot and stealing fuel