Stiven Dragarski: Military uniform wearing ‘rabbit hunter’ loses licence after odd police encounter

An Illawarra brickie caught wearing military attire told police he was out rabbit hunting when he was pulled over for driving dangerously. Read what happened in court.

A Warrawong bricklayer dressed in full military clothing and found with two large kitchen knives and a balaclava in his car after he was seen driving erratically up Mount Ousley in the middle of the night told police he was going barehanded rabbit-catching, a court has heard.

Stiven Dragarski‘s odd behaviour and even odder explanation drew dubious looks from Magistrate Chris McRobert during a sentencing hearing in Wollongong Local Court earlier this week, however the seasoned judicial officer said it was not his job to speculate on what may – or may not – have been Dragarski’s intentions that night.

Court documents said the strange incident took place about 11.30pm on June 4 this year when police saw Dragarski‘s Ford ute swerving erratically in the northbound lanes as he headed up Mount Ousley.

The court heard police believed Dragarski was driving above the speed limit and pulled him over at the truck stop at the top of the mountain. He was subjected to a breath test, which returned a positive reading for alcohol.

The officers saw two large knives (a 40cm meat cleaver and a 32cm kitchen knife) and a balaclava on the passenger seat of the vehicle. They also noted Dragarski was dressed in military clothing emblazoned with European insignia.

The court documents said when police asked about the items, Dragarski told them they didn‘t belong to him, but he was using them to “assist with killing wild rabbits after catching them with his hands”.

Dragarski was asked about his clothing and he told officers he wasn‘t employed by any military organisation, but refused to elaborate on why he was wearing it.

Stiven Dragarski said he had the knives to “assist with killing wild rabbits”.

When a family member came to pick up Dragarski‘s vehicle, police asked about the man’s hunting interests, however, the family member indicated they were unaware he engaged in such a hobby.

Police seized the knives and balaclava and transported Dragarski to Wollongong Police Station.

The court heard Dragarski became “extremely hostile, confrontational and belligerent” and hurled xenophobic slurs at officers before he ”vehemently refused” to take an alcohol breath test.

He was charged with being in custody of a knife in a public place and refusing to submit to a breath analysis.

Dragarski pleaded guilty to the charges in court this week, where it was revealed he had been suffering from the trauma of a marriage breakdown at the time of the incident and had been self medicating with alcohol.

Defence lawyer Graeme Morrison said Dragarski acknowledged the seriousness of what he‘d done and the dangers of having knives in public.

Magistrate McRobert fined Dragarski a total of $2,000 and disqualified him from driving for six months.

Once he is allowed back behind the wheel, Dragarski will be required to have an alcohol interlock device fitted to his vehicle for two years.