Hampton Park man Brandon Wayne Gates busted with ute full of stolen goods from home burglaries, court hears
A Hampton Park man has been caught with a stolen ute full of items from a string of burglaries across Melbourne, including a Rolex, jewellery, wallets and a jail uniform.
South East
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A Hampton Park man has been caught with a stolen ute full of luxury goods pilfered from across Melbourne, including a Rolex watch, jewellery, wallets — and a jail uniform.
Brandon Wayne Gates, 24, pleaded guilty to a slew of dishonesty offences including car theft in the Ringwood Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Police officers spotted a stolen ute sporting cloned plates parked outside a Diamond Creek home on November 1, 2024.
As they investigated the ute, which was stolen from Yarraville, they spotted Gates walking towards the car.
He bolted when he saw police, throwing his black bumbag in a bush as he ran to hide in a carport before he was arrested.
Inside his bumbag they found 23 grams of meth, GHB, Suboxone, other peoples’ IDs and a universal fob which had been coded to the stolen ute.
Police then searched the car and found a slew of items previously stolen from burglaries across Melbourne, including items from a Eltham home and a Warrandyte South property.
Several luxury watches — including a Rolex — were found alongside expensive jewellery, a GameBoy Console, wallets and a Metropolitan Remand Centre uniform.
Gates told police he was not the original thief and had got the car from an unknown associate the day before he was caught with the ute.
Magistrate Matthew White released Gates on bail while his matter was adjourned for sentence, with Gates having served 153 days in custody.
He will next front court on April 16 and will undergo an assessment for a community corrections order.
