Fast and the foolish: Hoon idiots, drag drongos and burnout bozos
The menaces on our roads include a pizza deliverer who likes donuts, a backbreaking ice-addled speedster and a show-off silly skidder. See the rest.
South East
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All sorts of dodgy drivers have fronted southeast courts for their bad behaviour which put the community, and themselves, in mortal danger of becoming another road toll statistic.
ONE WITH THE LOT
A pizza-delivering serial hoon lost his car, his licence and his cash after being caught drifting as he left a Maccas carpark.
The Skye 20-year-old had previously been pinged doing a very similar “loss of traction” manoeuvre in the same early model green Nissan Skyline.
The P-plater, who works as a delivery driver for his dad’s pizza shop, told police he “uses first gear all the time” and was “having a lot of fun”, but admitted his driving “wasn’t the best”.
The magistrate said his lack of talent behind the wheel could one day cost him his life.
He was convicted, suspended from driving for three months, placed on a good behaviour bond, told to do a road safety course and ordered to pay $500 to the court fund.
And he lost his precious classic car again — this time it was impounded for 45 days.
‘IF I SEE POLICE, I TAKE OFF’
A thrillseeking junkie led police on a wild chase the wrong way down the Monash Freeway at night with no headlights on.
Wayne Staff taunted cops by racing towards oncoming traffic at 100km/h before managing to get away.
And when the Narre Warren 28-year-old father of two was finally caught, he mocked officers again, saying “if I see police I take off”.
The druggie disqualified driver was also caught with a stash of drugs, more than $10,000 in cash and in possession of three stolen motorbikes.
When he was arrested he told officers he “had not done anything wrong”, and said he would do anything to get away from the law.
The habitual trafficker and cop chase crook faced court from behind bars after he had been imprisoned over a separate pursuit and drug-dealing crime spree.
He was jailed for another nine months to serve on top of the existing sentence, and disqualified from driving for 30 months.
NOT MUCH OF A MATE
An ice-addled hoon was out on bail over a police chase when he smashed his out-of-control unregistered car into a parked vehicle, busting his female passenger pal’s back and fracturing her foot and elbow.
Zakary Michael Norton should have been confined to his home due to strict curfew conditions he was meant to be serving while awaiting court for a Peninsula pursuit, but instead went on a drug-fuelled road rampage.
The 23-year-old apprentice tiler was behind the wheel of a car with no plates or registration when he lost control, crashing into a parked car with such force that it hit a second vehicle which spun and ended up in a fence.
Cops found Norton and his badly injured mate on the ground nearby.
Luckily she has now fully recovered from her injuries.
The magistrate slammed Norton as an “egregious” offender with little or no regard for the law.
“He’s going to have to take responsibility for the harm he causes others, the harm he causes the community.”
He was jailed for six months and disqualified from driving for four years.
LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME
A brazen burnout bozo caught doing tyre-smoking donuts around a roundabout in Baxter — while cops watched — then had the balls to ask the public to give him a cheer.
But thanks to a clean history and an excellent reference from his girlfriend’s mum, Oliver Dunn managed to escape a licence ban.
The 29-year-old level crossing worker was spotted by police lighting up the rear tyres of his red Ford ute, smoking rubber as he hung his arm out of the window at passers-by and encouraging them to celebrate his ‘skills’.
Police followed him and discovered his ride was unregistered, sending it to the impound yard for 30 days.
The magistrate said due to the “significant” character reference from his partner’s mum, his lack of priors and the impost of impound fees, he was not fining or suspending him.
Dunn was placed on a nine-month good behaviour bond and ordered to do a safe driving program.
NOT TO BE TRUSTED
A 24-year-old hoon with a love of doing burnouts and leading police on chases was knocked back in his bid to get his driving licence back because he was too “immature”.
Rhys Marton, also known as Rhys Watts, was told no by a magistrate after he was described as unable to handle his emotions when behind the wheel.
The bottle shop and TAB employee from Glen Iris had lost his licence for dangerous driving after he did a burnout and had to be chased by cops in an unregistered vehicle.
He has a very bad history, having been done for a similar police pursuit a few years before.
And he was also caught napping in the driver’s seat of a stationary vehicle with drugs in a shopping centre car park.
Police said they were not confident he was safe behind the wheel and didn’t support his licence application.
Marton told the court he had been “stupid” and “an idiot”, and blamed his hooning and evading police crimes on pent-up grief and relationship anger.
“I take walks, do exercise, do activities that don’t involve driving,” he said.
“I have stopped all that (hooning), I am regretful and remorseful; I have changed my life around.”
The magistrate said he was “not sure (Marton) had the maturity and awareness to be trusted to drive a car”.
He was told to go and get a psychologist’s report and come back to court at a later date.
GRAVE DANGER
A reckless racer rear-ended an innocent motorist while speeding in an attempt to catch up with his dragging mate — because he was scared of getting lost.
Jason Nicholas Metallinos wasn’t paying attention when he caused a major smash outside a cemetery after he failed to keep up with his hooning buddy.
The Patterson Lakes 42-year-old, who has a terrible driving history, also left the scene of another accident when he crashed into parked cars after momentarily falling asleep.
His defence lawyer said he had been self-medicating with ice and Xanax and had a long history of drug abuse, starting with cannabis at the age of 12.
The magistrate said Metallinos himself admitted he posed a risk to other road users.
“I need to send a message to you, people in your shoes, that the court will not tolerate dangerous driving and will protect the community from you.”
He was jailed for five months, fined $1000 and disqualified from driving for two years.
