Full list: Toowoomba car criminals named and shamed and theft hot spots revealed
New crime data shows which Toowoomba suburbs your car is more likely to be stolen from. See how yours stacks up here.
Police & Courts
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New data shows targeted police operations, community awareness, and custodial sentences for recidivist car thieves has reduced the number car thefts occurring across the Darling Downs region and Toowoomba.
Queensland Police Service statistics show in 2024 car thefts peaked across the Darling Downs in January with 120 reports made to police, however reports continued to decline in the following months.
The data for September and October has yet to be released.
Across the region 665 car thefts were reported to police between January and August 2024, 310 of which occurred in the Toowoomba policing district.
During the same time frame last year 697 unlawful use charges were laid, down from 912 in 2022, however less cars were reported stolen in the years prior with the statistics showing higher rates of cars following the pandemic.
Within the past year, a large number of people were sentenced in Toowoomba courts for the unlawful use of vehicles.
However, offenders are rarely solely sentenced for unlawful use of a motor vehicle, as the charge is usually accompanied by a raft of other crimes like property, driving, evading police, stealing, and drug offences.
Below is a list of Darling Downs offenders sentenced for stolen vehicle crimes since October 2023:
Brody Thompson
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in July 2024 Brody Scott Thompson pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful uses of a motor vehicle, stealing, and possessing dangerous drugs.
The court heard the 19-year-old’s criminal record showed he was connected to 13 stolen cars within the past year.
Thompson was arrested in March after his fingerprints were found inside a stolen vehicle.
The court heard the young man’s drug addiction and lack of stable accommodation contributed to his offending.
Thompson was sentenced to a nine months jail term, the 114 days he spent in pre-sentence custody was declared as time served, and he was granted immediately parole eligibility.
Andrew Jackson
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in October 2024 Andrew James Jackson pleading guilty to a number of crimes including 20 burglaries and 20 car thefts in the span of eight days.
The court heard in June, the 19-year-old and co-offenders broke into a number of homes across Toowoomba, stealing cars, cash and personal cards.
He was on a probation order at the time of the offences.
The court heard the teenager had a disadvantaged and traumatic upbringing.
Jackson was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and the 109 days he spent in custody was declared time served.
He was set to be released on parole on October 18, after serving one third of his sentence.
Christopher Chamberlain
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in January 2024 Christopher William Chamberlain pleaded guilty to 20 offences including the unlawful use of a motor vehicle which was driven dangerously while evading police.
The 29-year-old also pleaded guilty to weapon, drug, and driving charges.
He was on parole at the time of the offending.
A high Chamberlain was arrested following a police chase in August 2023 when police deployed spikes across the road on Athol Road near Westbrook.
The court heard addiction contributed to the father’s offending.
He was sentenced to a six month jail term and disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for two years and six months.
Chamberlain was eligible to apply for parole on March 30, 2024.
The full-time release date from jail, for all of his court orders, is in May 2025.
Keith Reber
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in December 2023, Keith Brian Reber pleaded guilty to a number of property offences which included two counts of unlawfully using a car, and possessing stolen car keys.
The Wilsonton Heights man was arrested by Toowoomba police’s dog squad in August after officers successfully stopped a stolen car.
He was on parole at the time.
Reber was sentenced to a 12 month jail term, which ran concurrently with a pre-existing nine month jail term that was imposed by a Goondiwindi magistrate in 2023.
The 119 days he served in presentence custody was declared as time served, and he was deemed eligible to apply for parole.
Hailee Jensen
At the Toowoomba’s District Court in May 2024, Hailee Jensen pleaded guilty to the unlawful use of a car which she used to ram a cop car before evading police.
The 23-year-old also pleaded guilty to drug charges.
The man Jensen was in a relationship with was in the passenger seat of the stolen car when she rammed police at an Ampol Service Station at Charlton on May 30, 2022.
The court heard during the offending Jensen was in the grips of an ice addiction and a violent domestic relationship where she was allegedly beaten daily.
Jensen was sentenced to a three year jail term, the 312 days she spent in custody were declared as time served, and she was deemed eligible to apply for parole.
Latrell Wright
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in August 2024, Latrell Wright pleaded guilty to committing a number of unlawful use and break-and-enter offences that occurred in Toowoomba at the beginning of the year.
Wright committed the crimes about two months after he was released from prison for similar offending and was on parole at the time.
When released, the court heart the 19-year-old was homeless and relapsed which led Wright to take up with old acquaintances.
Wright was sentenced to a 19-month jail term and was suspended from driving for at least four years after he pleaded guilty to a number of crimes including the dangerous operation of a vehicle, fraud, receiving tainted property, stealing, trespass, driving disqualified, break and enter, and unlawful use.
The 179 days he spent in pre-sentence custody were declared as time served, and he was deemed eligible to apply for parole.
Andrew Proud
At the Toowoomba District Court in February 2024, Andrew Cameron Proud pleaded guilty to six charges which included the unlawful use of a car, arson of a stolen car, and armed robbery in company.
The court heard the charges related to an incident where three young men and three teenagers kicked in the door of a Toowoomba home on August 6, 2020, demanding drugs and money.
The now 22-year-old did not commit any acts of violence during incident.
The court heard drugs had had a significant effect on Proud’s mental health leading to psychosis episodes, however he was determined to stay clean.
Judge Paul Smith said the crime was brazen and serious, but accepted Proud played less of a role and had little criminal history at the time.
Proud was sentenced to a five year jail term, the 113 days he spent in pre-sentence custody was declared time served, and he was deemed eligible to apply for parole.
His full-time release date is July 5, 2025.
Harrison Gardner
At the Toowoomba District Court in June 2024, Harrison Jon Gardner pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a car in company, arson of a stolen car, burglary, stealing, and drug charges.
In early 2013, the 24-year-old Toowoomba man filmed himself joy-riding in the stolen car and bragged about it to others before leaving it to burn in an attempt to cover his tracks.
Gardner was about three months into the two-year probation order which he was placed on in 2022 for committing the same type of offences.
The court heard the well supported and affluent man’s intellectual difficulties and ADHD may have contributed to his offending.
Gardner was sentenced to a three-year probation order.
Gerald Cole
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in March 2024 Gerald Malcolm Cole pleaded guilty to 27 crimes which included stealing five cars, possessing meth, and fuel drive-offs.
The 51-year-old was on parole during the meth-fuelled crime spree that occurred across Toowoomba, Ipswich, and the Gold Coast between December 2022 and April 2023.
The court heard Cole entered a number of homes and stole car keys before taking off in the victims’ cars.
Cole was sentenced to an 18-month jail term, his licence was disqualified for six months, and the 346 days he spent in custody was declared as time served.
His parole release date was set for April 13, 2024.
Patrick Hannah
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in March 2024, Patrick John Hannah pleaded guilty to a number of charges which included the unlawful and dangerous use of a car while unlicensed and evading police.
The court heard the then 18-year-old man was arrested at Plainland in March 2024, after police tracked and stopped the stolen Maroochydore car on the Warrego Highway.
The car was seen speeding, driving on the wrong side of the highway, and was driven without any rubber on the tyres.
Hannah was sentenced to a six-month jail term, with immediate parole, fined $740, and was disqualified from obtaining a driver’s licence for two years.
William Doidge
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in December William John Maximos Doidge pleaded guilty to a number of charges including the unlawful use of a car, breaking into a home, possessing break and enter tools, and drug crimes.
When police arrested the 20-year-old on April 11, officers located a number of illegal items hidden on, and inside the young man’s body.
Before that arrest, prosecutor Weir said Doidge attended a Glenvale address on April 28 in a stolen car, where he attempted to rummage through cars, stole licence plates, and entered the victim’s home.
The court heard Doidge struggled with a drug addiction and had a significant criminal history for someone so young, which included several unlawful use of motor vehicle charges.
Doidge was sentenced to a six-month jail term and the 60 days he spent in pre-sentence custody was declared time served.
He was remanded in custody on unrelated charges and is now eligible to apply for parole on September 8, 2024.
Eric Hall
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in December 2023 Eric Lionel Hall pleaded guilty to 12 crimes which included breaking into homes to commit an indictable offence, stealing cars and fuel, drug offences, and weapon crimes.
The now 20-year-old committed the property crime spree a week after he was released on parole in September 2022.
The Toowoomba man left his DNA at a number of burglaries, one of which occurred in Cleveland.
The court Hall, who struggled with addiction, was on the National Disability Insurance Scheme and had a very low IQ, which was in part due to head injuries he sustained as a child.
Hall was sentenced to a 12 month jail term wholly suspended for 18 months, and his driver’s licence suspended for one month.
Dwayne Pender
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in December 2023 Dwayne Anthony Pender pleaded guilty to 18 charges which included five counts of unlawful use of cars, breaking into premises to commit an indictable offences, and stealing.
The Oakey dad committed the crimes across the Toowoomba region, the most serious being a ram-raid at Cambooya on Anzac Day, 2023.
The court heard Pender and an associate used a stolen car to smash their way into a service station before stealing an ATM, strapping it to the stolen car’s tow bar.
The court heard the Dubbo-born man struggled with a drug problem, meth and heroin, which contributed to his offending.
The 28-year-old was sentenced to a two-and-a-half year jail term and the 105 days he spent in custody was declared as time served.
Pender’s parole eligibility was set to May 7, 2024.
Damon McGrath
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in November 2023 Damon Robert McGrath pleaded guilty to the unlawful use of a car, breaking into a property, driving offenses, and drug crimes.
The court heard the McGrath committed the raft of crimes over a 10-month period and he was arrested after forensics linked him to an Oakey break-and-enter from September 2023, and a stolen car crash from December 2022.
The court heard the father of five’s drug use escalated when he stopped working which led to the loss of his house, and family.
McGrath was sentenced to an 18-month probation order and his licence was disqualified until June 2027.
Shanon Washington
At the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in November 2023 Shanon Leath Washington plead guilty to 21 offences including the unlawful use of a motor vehicle, evading police, and obstructing police.
The 31-year-old man was arrested in June 2023 following a police pursuit through the Toowoomba CBD.
Two months prior, Washington was released on parole after serving time for similar offences.
The court was told addiction contributed to the fathers offending.
Washington was sentenced to a two year jail term with the 152 days he spent in pre-sentence custody declared time served.
He was eligible to apply for parole on July 15, 2024.
Attempted stolen car jackings
Anna-Leise Jane Giffin
At the Toowoomba District Court in August 2024 Anna-Leise Jane Giffin pleaded guilty to attempting to rob a Toowoomba resident of their car while armed.
The court heard the 30-year-old mother was high on methamphetamine when she walked into an unlocked home in April 2023 armed with a knife and demanded car keys to a car parked in the driveway.
Giffin took off on foot after a struggle ensured between her and an occupant.
The court heard Giffin was working and had been clean of drugs for some time which was backed up by documentation provided to the court.
Giffin was sentenced to a three-year and six-month jail term suspended for four years, and a two-year probation order.
Jarkeam Dickman
At the Toowoomba District Court in December 2023 Jarkeam Dickman pleaded guilty to attempting to steal an Uber drivers car with personal violence via spitting.
The court heard the very troubled 23-year-old spent a major of his young adult life in custody, spending three months within the community since turning 18.
The court heard Dickman, who began injecting meth at 11 and was in custody when his mother Debbie Combarngo was murdered, was homeless at the time of the offence.
Dickman was sentenced to a three year jail term and the 303 days he spent in custody was declared time served.
He was set for release on parole in January 2024.
Violent car crims
Sheldon Brown & Brock Dornbusch
At the Toowoomba District Court in September 2024 Sheldon William Brown and Brock Aiden Dornbusch pleaded guilty to the violent carjacking of a Rangeville woman.
The men, who both struggle with addiction, were on parole at the time of the offence on January 6, 2024.
The 20-year-olds targeted the woman in the early hours of the morning while she reversed out of her driveway.
The court heard Dornbusch threatened the woman with a stick before throwing her from the vehicle by the hair.
The pair was arrested three days later after the car was involved in a traffic crash on January 9.
The court heard Dornbusch had a very traumatic and deprived upbringing, and as an eight-year-old boy he witnessed his mother commit suicide with a firearm – he’s received no support or counselling.
Judge Dennis Lynch KC said although Dornbusch seemed to be the main offender Brown was equally culpable.
Judge Lynch sentenced Brown to a two year and a half year jail term and Dornbusch to a three year jail term.
The 237 days each of the men spent in presentence custody was declared as time served.
Both were granted eligibility for release on parole.
Edward Cubby & Jeffrey Ward-Sinclair
At the Toowoomba District Court in June 2024, co-accused carjackers Edward Charles Cubby and Jeffrey Alexander Ward-Sinclair pleaded guilty to using violence to steal a car and dangerous driving while evading police.
Both men had a lengthy criminal history which included unlawful use and were armed with illegal firearms during the carjacking on a Dalby street on May 11, 2023.
The court heard during a struggle between Cubby, 35, and the victim, 23, Sinclair.32, was told to shoot his gun after Cubby’s firearm failed to fire.
The bullet went into the man’s thigh, which required immediate medical treatment and resulted in surgery.
The pair drove off in the man’s ute, with Cubby locked driving between 120km and 140km/hr through Toowoomba streets.
They were soon arrested on corner of West Street and O’Quinn Street in Toowoomba.
The court heard Sinclair had no history of violence on his criminal record.
Judge Dennis Lynch KC found both men were equally culpable for the shooting and sentenced both Cubby and Ward-Sinclair to eight years behind bars.
The pair are required to serve 80 per cent of their sentence before eligible for parole.
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