Mt Waverley’s Bradley Whittaker robbed woman at The Glen while on crime spree
A low-life thug who stole a disability support worker’s car and robbed a 71-year-old woman was on a three-hour crime spree when police had to hit him with batons to stop the rampage.
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A cowardly hoon led police on a wild chase through Melbourne’s southeast before robbing a 71-year-old woman at a shopping centre, a court has heard.
Bradley Whittaker, 23, fronted the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on November 5, having pleaded guilty to a stack of driving, carjacking and reckless conduct endanger serious injury charges all relating to a three-hour crime spree on May 19.
The drug-affected Mt Waverley disqualified driver, then 22, had only been out of prison for one month when the spree kicked off.
It started when he tried to steal a car in Noble Park and smashed its window as his friends waited in a stolen car about 9am.
Whittaker got back into the first car when an alarmed resident confronted him, speeding off and driving into a fence on Corrigan Rd before running off.
But it wasn’t long before Whittaker spotted a vulnerable disability support worker who was preparing his wheelchair-friendly car for a client on Kelvinside Rd.
Whittaker shouted, “give me the f*****g keys”, and snatched them from the victim, with the wheelchair ramp screeching along the driveway as he sped off.
Police tailed Whittaker as he drove through Noble Park at speeds of up to 140km/h before flying through Dandenong at 96km/h in a 70km/h zone.
The Victoria Police helicopter was survelling Whittaker who forced other drivers onto the wrong side of the road, dodged police stop sticks, overtook traffic, mounted the footpath, sped and ran red lights as he continued through more suburbs including Ashwood and Mt Waverley.
The thug pulled into a car park at The Glen Shopping Centre where he approached a 71-year-old woman and demanded her car keys about 12pm.
The terrified woman fell to the ground as Whittaker yanked her handbag off her shoulder, snapping the strap.
Officers caught up with Whittaker and doused him with capsicum spray but he got back into the stolen car and accelerated towards them.
Police jumped out of the way as Whittaker reversed toward them with the driver’s door open.
The desperate dash came to an end as officers barricaded the car, dragging Whittaker out as he wrestled with police.
Officers hit Whittaker several times with batons so they could subdue him.
Whittaker’s lawyer said her client, who suffers from depression, anxiety and stimulant use disorder, was at “real risk” of institutionalisation.
The Year 7 dropout started abusing drugs and alcohol when he was 12.
“He finds the free world overwhelming, complicated … he doesn’t cope well in that environment,” Whittaker’s lawyer said.
“His life has been this (cycle of) in and out offending, custody and relapse.”
Magistrate Kimberley Swadesir said it was “astounding” Whittaker hadn’t injured multiple people during the dangerous spree.
“He has an extraordinary history for a man of his years,” she said.
The plea will continue before the County Court on March 10.
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