Geelong’s most bizarre crimes revealed
From a courtroom escape to stealing a cockatiel, these are some of Geelong’s most unusual crimes. READ THE DETAILS
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From crazy escape stories to public masturbation, the Geelong Magistrates’ Court has seen and heard it all.
With more than 250,000 people in the Greater Geelong region, the crimes that come before the court sure are varied.
Here are some of Geelong’s most bizarre crimes from recent times.
Cassidy Hynes
Chaos erupted in a courtroom when a Belmont father attempted a daring escape that culminated in a collision with a glass door and a broken heel.
Cassidy Hynes had appeared in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court for a bail application relating to shop theft matters and was further remanded in custody.
As soon as the hearing was finished, Hynes leapt up over the dock, ran past security and almost escaped the courthouse.
However, that was all undone because the glass doors did not open in time.
He ran into the doors, fell back into the hands of security and was returned to a cell in the Geelong police station.
Darren McDonald
A former Portarlington RSL president was convicted and fined for faking his war medals after wearing those of a dead friend.
The court heard Darren McDonald borrowed the medals from a deceased friend and that he has now returned the medals to that friend’s family.
McDonald served 10 years in the Australian Defence Force, joining when he was 17 in 1989.
He worked for three years as a recruit instructor and spent his remaining seven years working in transport before being medically discharged from the military.
Mr McDonald not receive the UN Cambodia UNTAC Medal, an Australian Active Service Medal with clasp, Australian Service Medal with Clasp and a Long Service Medal with two clasps that he wore on several occasions, including on Anzac Day last year.
Paolo Fattore
An unemployed man spotted a shirtless runner and decided to park his car, get out and watch the victim exercising before touching himself in a sexual manner.
Paolo Fattore, from Geelong, was driving near Landy Field and decided to pull over because he saw a man running shirtless.
The victim saw Fattore, who shorts were around his knees, starting to masturbate and touch his chest with his other hand.
Damien Siilata
A prisoner at Barwon sprayed faecal matter on an inmate’s door and then assaulted custodial officers.
Damien Siilata placed a small bag containing faeces outside of another inmate’s cell and stepped on the bag, spraying excrement all over the inmate’s door as well as on the floor.
In June 2020, Siilata was at the Metropolitan Remand Centre in Ravenhall and covered a CCTV camera with wet toilet paper.
A fire alarm was then activated in his cell and prison staff realised smoke was coming from under his doorway and could see flames.
The fire was eventually extinguished and the court heard Siilata had caused about $29,000 worth of damage.
Danny Alexander Steven
Elderly Ocean Grove man Danny Alexander Steven was caught by a member of the public pleasuring himself in an open bathroom stall.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Emma Morse said a man walked into a bathroom in Torquay and could hear noises coming from the cubicle.
“The accused had his genitalia exposed and was in the process of masturbating,” Constable Morse said.
“He was spoken to in relation to his behaviour. He was in possession of a bottle of oil and a liquid sexual enhancer,” Constable Morse said.
Timothy Gipp
A “talented” homeless artist who stole a cockatiel from a bird shop in Norlane was jailed for his offences.
The court heard Timothy Gipp walked inside the Victorian Bird Company shop in Norlane, selected a bird valued at about $300 and left without paying.
Mr Gipp’s lawyer, Adrian Paull described the theft as a “strange offence”.
Mr Paull said his client entered the shop with no intention of stealing the bird, however, the bird jumped onto Gipp.
He said his client became friendly with the bird and walked out the shop without paying.
Brendan Goodacre
A Torquay father who upskirted a woman after following her and her toddler daughter into a store also filmed a 13-year-old girl getting changed in a clothes shop.
The court heard Goodacre also filmed a 56-year-old woman and another unknown woman.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Denise Frame told the court Goodacre filmed the teen girl, who was in her bra and underwear, at Torquay’s Cotton On store on November 25, 2022.
Constable Frame told the court the victim realised she was being filmed when she saw a mobile phone on the floor pointed directly at her.
Ryan Coon
An East Geelong man who did burnouts in front of a police station after a drug-fuelled bender nearly collided head-on with a cop car.
The court heard on July 26, about 12.30am, Ryan Coon and two other co-offenders were seen on CCTV footage outside the Geelong police station performing a burnout in a stolen car.
During Coon’s wild driving spree, the court was told he almost collided head on with an unmarked police car as he was travelling on the wrong side of the road.
Gerrard Sheehan
A former healthcare CEO, who said he was in a car accident because he swerved to avoid hitting a kangaroo, falsely claimed almost $70,000 in benefits.
On February 25, 2019, Gerrard Sheehan sent text messages to his employer telling them he had been involved in a car accident.
In the messages Sheehan said “he was swerving to miss roos in Jancourt, did a 360 and hit his head”.
Colleen Russell
A lonely widow who fell victim to a stranger’s “sob story” landed in court over $70,000 stolen from a fruit company in a “bizarre” dating scam.
Colleen Russell’s lawyer Mary Foley said the widow was still grieving the loss of her husband when the stranger convinced her to accept about $70,000 into her account.
She said he had told her he was overseas and needed to transfer the money into her account to pay some bills.
“He gave her a bit of a sob story so she gave in and provided her bank details,” Ms Foley said.
“The money goes into her account and she thinks she is doing a favour for him and helping him out because his son is in Melbourne and needs this money.”
Magistrate Ann McGarvie described the offending as “bizarre”.
“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” she said.
“It’s extraordinary that a basic stranger can convince you to deal with huge sums of money.”
Zachary Thomas Schmidt
After failing to produce a driver’s licence, a Geelong man jumped from a moving police car and sparked a manhunt.
Zachary Thomas Schmidt was pulled over and breath tested about 1km from his home, when he voluntarily decided to go with police back to the station in their vehicle.
Driving along the Bellarine Hwy in Leopold, Schmidt undid his seatbelt, opened the door and jumped out.
The dog squad was called to help find Schmidt, with police citing their concern for his safety, only to find him at his home the next day.
Joshua Cannane
Growing up in the Children of Gold religious cult, a man received extra jail time for throwing a cup of faeces at a prison officer.
Joshua Cannane threw the excrement at a female custody officer as his cell was opened, later hitting an officer in the face as he was escorted to the shower block.
As part of the Children of God, also known as the Family of Love, Cannane was a childhood victim of the cult.
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