Cody Williams pleads guilty to stealing motor vehicles in Geelong

A Norlane man stole luxury cars from homes across Geelong before a barking dog and a lost mobile phone helped police catch him.

Cody Williams stole a number of cars over a four day period.

A Norlane man stole $227,000 worth of cars, including an Audi and Mercedes, during a four-day crime spree spanning Armstrong Creek, Torquay and Highton.

Cody Williams, 26, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to a number of charges, including stealing motor vehicles, trespassing, failing to stop on police direction and drug possession.

The court heard Williams and a co-accused, Aidan Thomson, stole two cars, a Mazda CX-5 valued at $60,000 and a Mazda CX-9 valued at $50,000, from a Torquay home on May 4 this year.

Police prosecutor Ben Thompson said the female victim realised her cars were missing when she got up to go to the gym in the morning.

The same night, the pair entered the backyard of a Newtown home before they were spooked by a barking dog which caused Mr Thomson to drop his phone.

Hours later, about 9.30am, the pair returned to the property to look for the phone but it had been found by a witness and handed into police.

While they were in Newtown, the pair were filmed by a witness who captured Mr Thomson on camera allegedly driving an Audi stolen from an address in Highton, while Williams was driving the stolen CX-9.

About 15 minutes later, police spotted Williams and pulled up next to him at a red light at the intersection of Shannon Ave and Ballarat Rd.

Williams went through the red light to avoid police.

Just after midday the officers again spotted the cars in Armstrong Creek and parked outside a home in Sanderling Ave.

Williams saw one of the police officers and jumped the back fence to escape, but was soon arrested.

Police searched Williams and found a Mazda car key, a small container containing GHB, a small amount of cannabis and three Suboxone strips.

Mr Thomson was caught by police while trying to jump a fence and was allegedly in possession of methamphetamine and MDMA.

The court heard Williams also stole a Mazda CX3 valued at $27,000, a $50,000 Mercedes Benz from Armstrong Creek and the Audi Q3 from Highton valued at $40,000.

Magistrate Franz Holzer said Williams appeared to have a lack of insight into his offending, likely caused by his substance abuse.

Mr Holzer adjourned sentencing until October 9.

Mr Thomson is facing 17 charges and is yet to appear before court.

Originally published as Cody Williams pleads guilty to stealing motor vehicles in Geelong