Drunk Rye footballer Sam Smith crashed car and fled scene before being caught by the dog squad

A tough-tackling Rye football player has crashed his car through a Sorrento garden and into a fence before fleeing and hiding under a house. But the midfield tagger was unable to shake the police dog squad’s close attention.

Rye footballer Sam Smith crashed his car through a Sorrento garden and then fled the scene. Picture: Jason Sammon

A drunk Rye footballer who crashed his car through a Sorrento garden and then fled the scene was discovered by the dog squad hiding under a house.

And when he was caught an hour after the sozzled smash, the plastered bricklayer refused to take a breath test, saying he just “wanted to have a drink of water”.

Sam Smith, 31, careered his four-wheel-drive through a Sorrento garden, across a driveway and into a fence before he and a mate jumped out and ran off.

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Nicknamed “Sparrow”, the tough-tackling Rye Demon midfielder has a poor past when it comes to drinking and driving, having also refused a breath test in 2015.

At Dromana Magistrates’ Court on Thursday he pleaded guilty to careless driving, refusing a breath test, failing to leave details after an accident and being drunk in a public place charges.

The court heard police were on the lookout for two men who had been seen getting into a vehicle after drinking heavily at a Sorrento hotel.

Sam Smith is able to “win his own ball and is a tackling machine”, according to the Rye Football Netball Club website.

They came across the 4WD that had hit a footpath and crashed through a garden in Constitution Hill Rd, Sorrento, about midnight on May 5.

Officers were initially unable to find either of the two men but then found Smith’s boozed-up pal, the passenger, hiding in nearby bushland.

They called in the canine unit to try and an hour later Smith was discovered, highly intoxicated, hiding under a house after leaving his Landrover Discovery at the scene.

He was asked to provide a breath sample, but refused, saying he wanted a drink of water.

Despite being told three times if he didn’t provide a breath sample he would face a mandatory ban, he declined.

He was taken to Rosebud police station, but was so intoxicated he couldn’t be interviewed.

In court his defence lawyer said Smith admitted he was the driver, and he had panicked after losing control of the vehicle.

He said he had since given up alcohol and knew he would have to “face the music” and will need to get a different job that didn’t involve driving.

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Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said it was “outrageous offending”.

“You are right on the cusp of going to jail,” Mr Lethbridge said.

“In 2015 you were here at court for refusing a breath test, and here you are again.

“If you drive during this period of disqualification there will be no hesitation in imposing an immediate term of imprisonment.”

Smith was convicted and fined a total of $2250 and disqualified from driving for four years.