Jason Tirta: Driver in Mercedes pursuit with off-duty cops pleads guilty

A Boronia man involved in a CBD pursuit with two off-duty police officers on board has been revealed as a former nightclub promoter with a history of assaults.

A Mercedes driver charged over a CBD pursuit with two off-duty police officers on board has been revealed as a former nightclub promoter with a history of assaults.

Boronia’s Jason Tirta, 23, pleaded guilty to his role in the pursuit on April 24, 2021 at Ringwood Magistrates Court on Thursday.

But despite pleading guilty, his defence lawyer has sensationally claimed one of the off-duty officers in the back of the car screamed at him to speed off after police had pulled them up.

Boronia's Jason Tirta, a former nightclub promoter, outside Ringwood Magistrates' Court on January 19, 2023. Picture: Kiel Egging.

The court heard Tirta was working as a promoter at South Melbourne’s Albion Hotel on the night of the pursuit when he met the two off-duty officers, one of whom was a friend.

Tirta, the off-duty officers and two others packed into the black unregistered Mercedes about 3am, and drove towards the city.

Police pulled up the car 15 minutes later at the intersection of Little Bourke and William streets, and Tirta stopped to await further directions from officers parked behind him.

A still from CCTV footage of a Mercedes Benz fleeing police after it was pulled over in the CBD on April 24, 2021. File picture.

After three minutes, he suddenly sped off towards Lonsdale St and travelled through a red light.

The car later hooned along King St and against traffic on Little Bourke St before coming to a stop, with all five people in the car fleeing the scene.

CCTV footage identified Tirta and one of the passengers coming back to collect the car about 7am that morning with their faces covered.

Prosecutor for the pursuit, Viola Katotas, said the two off-duty officers remained subject to internal police investigations and did not name them in Thursday’s hearing for personal safety reasons.

Tirta’s defence lawyer told Magistrate Justin Foster one of the off-duty officers allegedly pressured Tirta into driving off from the scene, yelling into his ear from the back and saying “just go”.

He said it put his client in a state of distress and he panicked, but conceded Tirta “made a definite mistake accelerating away”.

“Having a police officer screaming at you saying he should move, I think that is an unusual set of circumstances for that driving charge, and should be taken into account,” the defence lawyer said.

As part of a consolidated hearing, Tirta also pleaded guilty to assault charges on three other occasions, including a delivery of nitrous oxide canisters – also known as nangs, to a Blackburn apartment and an attack on a patron at Prahran’s Love Machine nightclub, both in 2019.

In the nightclub attack, Ringwood prosecutor leading senior constable Simon Fisher told the court Tirta approached another clubber on the dancefloor before he punched, kneed and kicked them.

He later pushed the victim down a flight of five stairs before he was removed from the venue by security.

Tirta’s defence lawyer said his client was unemployed, living at home with his family and had worked to turn his life around in recent years.

He said Tirta had previously worked in IT for government agencies since the incidents, and had “changed his environment and associations and hasn’t been any trouble”.

But along with the “serious” charges and after viewing photos from the nightclub attack, Mr Foster was concerned there was no evidence Tirta had sought any support for anger management following the string of incidents.

Mr Foster said jail time was “absolutely on the table” for Tirta and ordered he be assessed for a community corrections order.

He adjourned the hearing for sentencing on all matters at the court on March 16.