Lino Tanuvasa of Greenvale jailed for police chases, car thefts
A Greenvale man got on the drugs, stole cars and led police on wild chases. And he’s blamed it on entering a new phase in his life.
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The pressures of being an expectant father led to a man getting back on drugs, stealing five vehicles and leading police on three wild chases, a court has heard.
Lino Tanuvasa told police he “had a quick puff of ice” before one of the chases, which ended in him driving off an embankment and hiding in a paddock.
The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to numerous charges before Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, July 16, following a two-week, methamphetamine-fuelled crime spree in September.
The court heard he stole a Nissan from Bundoora just after midnight on September 5, before he sped away from police in it when they began chasing him about 11.44am in Thomastown.
The Greenvale man stole a Nissan ute from Reservoir on the night of September 6-7, another Nissan ute from Brunswick East on September 8-9, and a Nissan wagon from a Mill Park property overnight on September 10-11.
He was driving the wagon when he stole petrol from BP Mickleham on September 11, before he drifted lanes on the Monash Freeway in Endeavour Hills and collided with a car about 9.27pm, causing $12,000 damage.
Tanuvasa didn’t stop after the collision, dumping the wagon in Drouin, and stealing another Nissan ute with a co-offender about 11.24pm.
He stole petrol from Caltex Longwarry on September 12, before he stole a Kia from Ashwood on September 15, which a police helicopter chased and lost track of as he drove it near Melbourne Airport on September 17.
Tanuvasa was a passenger in one of the stolen Nissans as his co-offender travelled at 140km/h on the Eastern Freeway about 1.45am on September 19.
The car was chased by helicopter as it went through Heidelberg, Bundoora, Greensborough and onto the Metropolitan Ring Rd before stopping in Wollert, where the driver got out.
Tanuvasa then got behind the wheel, after having “a quick puff of ice”, as he later told police.
He sped away, and kept going after police punctured the car’s tyres with stop sticks, before steering off the road, down an embankment and into a fence.
Tanuvasa then hid in a paddock, but was located by the Police Air Wing.
He wasn’t licenced during any of the incidents, having never held a Victorian licence and having been banned from getting one for four years from 2017.
He was also caught driving illegally in June, July and August last year.
The New Zealand-born man also faced charges for breaching a community corrections order, and charges for an incident that cannot be published.
His lawyer, Chris Brydon, said Tanuvasa, who had begun using methamphetamine aged 19, returned to abusing the drug after hearing he was going to become a father
The court heard he had a significant and relevant criminal history.
Magistrate Stephen Ballek sentenced him to eight months in jail, with 102 days having already been served, and a 12-month corrections order.
His licence was cancelled for 12 months.
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