Runaway ex-AFL umpire Troy Pannell’s charge sheet released by Victorian Police
Runaway AFL umpire Troy Pannell’s criminal charge sheet has been released, which revealed how he evaded police before he crashed a car and was arrested.
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Runaway AFL umpire Troy Pannell evaded police for almost a week before he crashed a car and was taken into custody.
Charge sheets revealed that Mr Pannell was refused to stop for police in Cobram six days before he was finally arrested.
The 219 game umpire was also charged with stealing a $45,000 Hyundai Tuscon and an iPhone 13 and a laptop.
The Victorian Magistrates Court made public the charges in a six-page document released on Friday.
The criminal charges were separate to the $8.7 million civil lawsuit filed against Mr Pannell by his former employer SeaRoad Shipping.
The company accused Mr Pannell of siphoning off the money over a decade in payments to a container repair company where he was the sole director and shareholder.
The company alleged that repair work was never done.
Mr Pannell fronted the Heidelberg Magistrates Court via video link earlier this week.
He was dressed in a green jumper as he beamed into the hearing from the Melbourne Assessment Prison on Spencer St.
Police had been hunting Mr Pannell after Justice Andrew Watson put out a warrant for his arrest when he failed to turn up to the civil court hearings.
“The accused at Cobram on 30/5/2025 being the driver of a motor vehicle who knew that they had been given a direction to stop the motor vehicle by a police officer, did not stop the motor vehicle as soon as practicable and remain stopped until a police officer indicated that they may proceed,” page 3 of the charge sheet said.
He was hit with a similar charge for failing to stop on June 6 at Wheatsheaf – shortly before he crashed his car.
Police have insisted that they were not pursuing Mr Pannell when he had the accident.
Mr Pannell was treated at the Alfred and Austin hospitals for 10 days but has since been in custody.
He did not apply for bail and was due to appear on the theft and driving charges again on July 16 at the Heidelberg Magistrates Court.
His next hearing in the civil case was due on July 18.
Mr Pannell owned two cafes with his estranged wife before his civil case went to court this year.
They have since been put into liquidation.
He had a controversial umpiring career, with questions raised about his decision making when he paid 17 free kicks to the Western Bulldogs and only one to Adelaide in a 2016 match.
The AFL has refused to say whether that match would be investigated.
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Originally published as Runaway ex-AFL umpire Troy Pannell’s charge sheet released by Victorian Police
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