Mernda police search: Omafaruq Abdisamed throws phone in pool

A search at a Mernda house went wrong after a handcuffed man managed to throw a potential piece of evidence into a swimming pool.

Police were searching the Mernda address when the incident occurred.

A handcuffed man ran from police and threw his phone into a swimming pool to stop them accessing its contents, a court has heard.

Police were searching Omafaruq Abdisamed’s Mernda home when he managed to damage the phone, leaving it unable to be opened.

The 24-year-old fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, May 26, facing charges of hindering police and stealing a car while already serving a sentence handed to him on April 14.

Omafaruq Abdisamed has pleaded guilty to the car theft.

The court heard police had handcuffed Abdisamed’s hands at his front when they raided his home on September 3.

Leading Senior Constable Grant Smith said police then asked Abdisamed for the password to a Samsung phone they found in the house, handing him the phone to unlock.

Abdisamed then took a few quick steps and threw the phone into a nearby swimming pool, with the water damaging it to the point it was unable to be accessed, the court heard.

The father also pleaded guilty to stealing a Volkswagen Golf during a robbery at Preston’s JS Grey Reserve about 12.45am on August 11 after hearing a sentence indication.

The court heard he was seen on CCTV driving the car, which had different number plates attached, through the drive-thru at McDonald’s Flemington on August 19, before someone saw him dump it in Preston the following day.

Police also recovered his DNA from inside the car.

Magistrate Jennifer Tregent said she would not hand Abdisamed a sentence that would run concurrently with his existing sentence because he had challenged the charges and forced police to pursue DNA profiling.

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“He’s put the police to the proof,” she said.

The court heard Abdisamed had repeatedly stolen cars and had struggled with drug addiction for years.

But Ms Tregent said she didn’t see the correlation between him stealing cars and his drug habit.

“He’s just stealing (cars) because he can,” she said.

The former traffic management worker was sentenced to one month jail for the crimes, with Ms Tregent saying she would have ordered at least three months if he had continued to contest the charges.

His licence was disqualified for a further month, meaning he will be unable to apply to drive before May 2021.