Tevi Koloamatangi paroled over botched hotel robbery, attempted murder of cop

A man twice convicted – and twice acquitted – of an infamous south coast murder has walked from custody on strict parole after serving jail time for trying to kill a police officer in an unrelated hotel robbery.

Two hostages carry the injured gunman from The Lakes Hotel in 2009.

A man who spent 14 years behind bars for trying to kill a cop in a botched hotel robbery has walked from custody on parole.

Tevi Kolomatangi, also know as Davy Afu, was jailed in 2011 after a jury found him guilty of the attempted murder of Sergeant Stephen de Lorenzo outside the Lakes Hotel in Rosebery in 2009.

The court at the time found Koloamatangi had formulated a plan to rob the hotel and lay in wait in the early hours of the morning until confronting three workers at gunpoint at the end of their shift.

While holding the employees hostage at the bar, Kolomatangi was hit with a taser by Sgt de Lorenzo, who had entered the building along with other officers.

Koloamatangi returned fire with a pistol, hitting Sgt de Lorenzo in the shoulder. He survived, but was left with permanent injuries.

Tevi Koloamatangi in custody.

NSW Police officer Stephen de Lorenzo in 2011.

The now 53-year-old Koloamatangi was sentenced to 17 years jail over that incident and a second, unrelated home invasion matter he had carried out two days prior.

While behind bars, Koloamatangi was arrested and charged with murder over the unrelated shooting of Dragan Sekuljicia inside Wollongong’s Splashes nightclub in 2007.

Koloamatangi was twice convicted of the murder by two different juries, however both decisions were subsequently overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal – the first, in 2016, when a re-trial was ordered, and the second in 2020, when he and another co-accused were acquitted and cleared of any wrongdoing or involvement altogether.

Sgt de Lorenzo walks towards Koloamatangi with his taser drawn at The Lakes Hotel.

Meanwhile, Koloamatangi continued serving his sentence for the Lakes Hotel robbery and became eligible for parole in May this year.

The NSW State Parole Authority initially refused his application earlier this year after the Serious Offenders Review Council found it was not appropriate to release him.

However, Kolomantangi applied for a review of the decision after successfully completing an intensive in-custody drug treatment course designed to address his history of entrenched substance abuse and associated violent offending.

The authority granted him parole at the end of last month, noting he would be living under strict supervision from Community Corrections staff.

Included in the parole determination are a series of conditions that require Koloamatangi to comply with all reasonable directions from his supervising officer regarding where he will live, what work he will do and which treatment and intervention programs he will complete.

He will also be prohibited from associating with specified people, cannot attend the Lakes Hotel and must agree to undergo drug and alcohol testing when directed.