Court claim names bikie-busting cop in missing $400k watches
A gang taskforce detective has been named in a court claim over $400,000 designer watches that went missing in a police raid.
Police & Courts
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A gang taskforce detective who investigated a bikie associate for allegedly assaulting a woman at a music festival is at the centre of a $400,000 lawsuit after designer watches belonging to the man disappeared.
Detective Senior Constable Zac Chudleigh of Taskforce Maxima has been named in a statement of claim filed in the Queensland District Court after he allegedly seized the Audemars Piguet and Hublot watches during a raid and failed to give them back.
According to court documents obtained by The Courier-Mail, the designer timepieces belonged to Gold Coast man Jordan Roman Brennan, who was raided in August 2020, months after he and his girlfriend were alleged to have assaulted a woman at the Wildlands music festival.
Police allege Brennan and controversial influencer Kate Nicole Szepanowski attacked the woman after she lost her balance and accidentally stepped on Szepanowski’s foot.
Both Brennan and Szepanowski were charged with assault and assault occasioning bodily harm in relation to the music festival incident and have been committed to stand trial.
The statement of claim, lodged by Alex Jones + Associates, states Brennan was entitled to have the watches returned within 30 days of the search warrant being executed.
Brennan has demanded the return of the watches or their equivalent value, plus interest.
The document lists them as an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak self-winding chronograph 41mm rose gold watch, an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak offshore chronograph 44mm platinum watch and a Hublot Big Bang Unico titanium diamonds 44mm black skeleton watch, with a collective value of $410,085.
“On 17 October, 2022, the plaintiff demanded in writing, via his lawyers, that Chudleigh, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, return the watches to him,” the statement of claim said.
The document said that on December 13, 2022, a Magistrate ordered the watches be returned, issuing a deadline three days later.
“Despite the orders, neither Chudleigh nor anyone else on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, have redelivered the watches to the plaintiff,” the document said.
“The Commissioner of Police is unwilling or not able to return the watches to the plaintiff.”
In late January, Brennan was informed “the watches were not able to be located and that an Ethical Standards (Command) investigation had been opened”.
Det Sen Const Chudleigh was previously criticised by Supreme Court Justice Peter Davis in an unrelated case after he and another officer pulled over a black Chrysler in Loganlea and searched the vehicle.
The detective told the court he’d pulled the Chrysler over for a licence check, having noticed it driving in convoy with another car. He said he searched it because the occupants seemed “extremely nervous”.
They found cash and drugs inside the car, but Justice Davis ruled the search illegal and excluded the evidence, describing Det Sen Const Chudleigh as “an unimpressive witness in many respects”.
Queensland Police Service said in a statement: “This matter is currently under investigation by the QPS Ethical Standards Command and as such no further comment is able to be provided at this time.”
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