Mitchell Sippel: Coffs Harbour truck driver pleads guilty to Pacific Highway, Johns River road rage incident

A Coffs Harbour truck driver who menaced the driver of a Lexus on the highway told police he just wanted to “tell him to chill out and stop him from being a d**k”.

The Coffs Harbour bypass construction on the southern approach to town.

A Coffs Harbour truck driver menaced another road user, yelling and waving a pole out of a window, because he wanted to “stop him from being a d--k”, a court has heard.

Mitchell Josef Sippel, a truckie “for a long time”, has been employed on the Coffs Harbour bypass, working up to 65 hours a week, defence lawyer Todd Scott told Forster Local Court on Monday.

Sippel, 29, pleaded guilty to a charge of knowingly driving a vehicle in a manner that menaces another following an incident on the Pacific Highway at Johns River, north of Taree, about 6.30pm on August 18 last year.

Magistrate Allison Hawkins said a “disturbing set of facts” had been presented to the court by police.

Sippel drove a silver Hyundai iLoad van like a “lunatic” – tailgating a driver in a Lexus CT and flashing his lights as they travelled south on a two-lane section of highway.

Mitchell Josef Sippel was sentenced at Forster Local Court.

Sippel approached from behind at speed and started flashing his lights at the Lexus as they overtook another vehicle.

The victim slowed down because he was having difficulty seeing due to the flashing lights, police state in the court documents.

Sippel then drove alongside the victim’s car, yelled and began “hanging out” of the driver‘s window waving an 18-inch pole, at one point swerving into the man’s lane.

The man behind the wheel of the Lexus made it to Raymond Terrace and reported the incident at a police station.

Work underway on the $2.2 billion Coffs Harbour Bypass. The new section of the Pacific Motorway is expected to open to traffic in late 2026 and be completed in 2027.

The victim’s dashcam “clearly captured” Sippel carrying out the menacing act, police state.

Sippel was interviewed at Coffs Harbour Police Station on December 28 and told officers he got frustrated and “pulled something out and waved it out the window”.

Asked why, Sippel said: “I don’t know, just to tell him to chill out and stop him from being a d--k. Heat of the moment, dumb to intimidate him.”

Sippel was visibly upset when he realised his sentence would include an 18-month license disqualification.

Ms Hawkins also ordered Sippel to serve an 18-month community corrections order, including anger management classes, and fined him $750.

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