Peter Bragagnolo: Thomastown man rams police on Falcon St
A manic Thomastown man told police he would “take them out”, warning them they would get hurt before reversing his van into theirs and accelerating. But there’s a reason he’s not heading to jail.
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An enraged Thomastown man who was hopped up on prescription medication threatened police he would “take them out” before he drove into their police van and accelerated.
Peter Bragagnolo’s wild behaviour left one of the officers suffering back pain and emotional trauma, the County Court has heard.
The 51-year-old fronted the court on Monday, September 21, having pleaded guilty to charges including aggravated reckless exposure of a police officer to risk by driving.
Police were trying to catch up with Bragagnolo about 7.30pm on August 7, 2019 following multiple 000 calls when officers in two cars found him driving his work van along Falcon St, Thomastown.
Bragagnolo pulled up beside one car and shouted aggressively at the sergeant inside.
A furious Bragagnolo told the police to “f*ck off”, saying, “I’m not getting out, don’t try to f*cking stop me or I’ll take you out”.
“Don’t even f*cking try, you won’t like what happens. You are going to get hurt,” he continued.
Bragagnolo then drove past the other police car and said, “I reiterate what I said to your other members, go speak to them”.
Bragagnolo quickly found himself blocked between police vehicles, before he revved his van and reversed straight back into a police van occupied by two officers, hitting it at an estimated 11-18km/h.
He then kept accelerating, trying to push the police van, while the sergeant driving it pushed on the brakes to stop it moving.
Other police ran to Bragagnolo and used capsicum spray on him before pulling him from the van and taking him to Northern Hospital.
The sergeant was left with lower back and abdominal pain, and the court heard that “even as a 25-year veteran of police” he was left emotionally affected by the event.
A victim impact statement revealed Bragagnolo’s “frightening” actions had made the officer more hypervigilant and had affected his daily interactions with his family and others.
The police van needed $26,662.66 worth of repairs.
The court heard Bragagnolo was suffering from significant mental illness which impaired his mental functioning and reduced his moral culpability
Judge Trevor Wraight said Bragagnolo’s health, as well as COVID-19, would make prison more onerous for him.
The court heard the former chef was left with PTSD after being held hostage at gunpoint and assaulted during an armed robbery in 1998.
It was also heard he had a supportive family, was a generous volunteer at the Old Ivanhoe Grammarians Cricket Club and had entered a burning home to help those inside get to safety.
Judge Wraight noted Bragagnolo had served 23 days on remand after being arrested and convicted him and placed him on 24-months community corrections order including 120 hours community work and treatment for alcohol use, drug use and mental health.
He said if Bragagnolo hadn’t pleaded guilty he would have been sentenced to jail.
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