Langwarrin drug dealer snatched ice stash from stolen car crash
A druggie in a stolen car legged it with bags of ice when the car crashed. Only she didn’t know an off-duty cop was watching her every move.
South East
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A convicted drug trafficker who did a runner with bags of ice from the scene of a stolen car crash has been jailed.
Bianca Ruscoe was the passenger in a nicked Chrysler coupe when it smashed into a motorist at a Frankston intersection.
She then fled with nearly 50g of high-purity ice and tried to escape through a shopping centre before police caught up with her.
The 27-year-old Langwarrin mum pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and theft-related charges at the online Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
The court heard a Chrysler coupe had been stolen from a Seaford street on May 17 last year.
Later that evening the same car was involved in a smash in Cranbourne Rd, Frankston after it failed to stop at a red light.
The Chrysler was left stranded on the side of the road and the driver, who has not yet been identified, and passenger Ruscoe ran off.
Ruscoe was seen fleeing by an off-duty police officer who followed her to Karingal Hub shopping centre, catching up with her as she sat on a stationary bus.
When she was searched police found a total of 48.9g of ice in her pocket.
She was arrested, but found to be unfit for interview.
Police drug lab analysis put one bag of ice at above 80 per cent purity, the other at more than 50 per cent purity.
The estimated street value of the stash is up to $30,000.
Ruscoe was also involved in a petrol drive-off in Lara in June 2019 and was found with stolen bank cards and a small amount of cannabis in Langwarrin in April last year.
Her defence lawyer told the court Ruscoe “opportunistically” took the drugs after the car crashed and while she knew the bags contained drugs, she didn’t realise the quantity or the purity.
She said she had longstanding issues with homelessness and drugs, specifically ice, heroin and Xanax, and urged the magistrate not to impose a “crushing sentence”.
In 2016 Ruscoe had been jailed for five months for trafficking ice.
Magistrate Timothy Gattuso said not only was the purity and quantity of the drugs concerning, her prior for very similar offending was also a worry.
“She has a significant drug history dating back six or seven years,” Mr Gattuso said.
“Drugs are a real problem in the community; people who become addicted commit further offences to feed their addictions.
“The court must send a clear message that lengthy terms of imprisonment (for dealers) are to be imposed.”
Ruscoe was jailed for 12 months, minus 246 days she had already served on remand.
She was also fined $100 for possession of cannabis.
