Van Nhat Tran pleads guilty to escaping police twice during crop house investigation

A St Albans man led a detective on two foot chases through Caroline Springs when he was discovered to be suspiciously loitering around a suspected crop house.

A man who escaped from a police detective twice in one day, prompting him to be chased across Caroline Springs, has pleaded guilty to the offending in court.

St Albans man Van Nhat Tran, 31, pleaded guilty to cultivating a narcotic plant and escaping from a police member in the County Court at Melbourne on Thursday.

On July 15, 2021, Powercor determined the cause of a power outage in Deepdene Street, Caroline Springs to be due to a hydroponic cannabis set up in a rental.

Melton detectives obtained a search warrant for the address and the first detective who arrived was approached by a Powercor worker.

He was told a “suspicious” white van had been driving past the house and a man standing across the road resembled the person who had been driving it.

The detective approached the man, later identified to be Tran, and asked him why he was loitering in the park during a lockdown when there were only five lawful reasons to leave home.

Tran produced ID and told him he was visiting a friend before sprinting up the street.

The detective yelled out “it’s the police, stop running”, as he chased him down street after street to Caroline Springs lake.

At this point a member of the public stopped to ask if the detective was okay and offered him a lift.

The detective jumped in the passenger seat and the car gained on Tran, with the detective again giving chase on foot but without success.

He then enlisted the help of the driver, who was able to catch Tran after about 50m.

He was handcuffed and searched, with keys and a garage remote found on him.

Tran was walked back to the person’s car and placed on the ground, before springing to his feet and sprinting off again.

The detective chased Tran through the streets and at one point had him cornered in a driveway and attempted to deploy OC capsicum spray but was unsuccessful.

Losing sight of Tran on Aberfeldie Way, he called for back-up.

The handcuffed Tran was found hiding behind a wooden slatted ornamental garden box in a residential backyard about an hour later.

At the same time police raided the Deepdene St home, where they found 113 cannabis plants growing hydroponically throughout.

During an interview Tran said he had never been to the house and had been paid $300 to “look at what was going on”.

Yet the court heard items carrying his DNA were present inside the house and the keys and garage remote found on him matched its locks.

The prosecutor told the court that no other offenders had been identified in relation to the set-up.

“It would be open for Your Honour to consider that he is effectively at the bottom of the pile in terms of his involvement.

“But it still assists the production line of a significant hydroponic cannabis set-up.”

Tran’s lawyer, Anita Kousari, submitted a combination sentence was in range, which the prosecution agreed with, despite Tran being sentenced for similar offending two years ago.

She said her client, who has been in custody for over 400 days, was remorseful and that he had become involved as he was “desperate for money” while unable to work during the pandemic as he wanted to fund a visa application for his sister.

He will be assessed for a community corrections order and will be sentenced in a fortnight.