Ryan Coon pleads guilty to dangerous driving charges

An East Geelong man who did burnouts in front of a police station after a drug-fuelled bender nearly collided head-on with a cop car.

Ryan Coon. Picture: Facebook

An East Geelong man who did burnouts in front of a police station after a drug-fuelled bender nearly collided head-on with a cop car.

Ryan Coon, 29, was in a stolen car in the early hours of July 26, this year, when he was driving erratically through the streets of Geelong.

Coon pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday to charges including unlicensed driving, careless driving and dangerous driving while being pursued by police.

Coon’s lawyer, Tim Hancock said his client had a “significant longstanding drug history” and said the catalyst for the offending was an incident where he had a gun pulled on him.

Mr Hancock said Coon was involved in a dispute and had a handgun pointed at him while he was in a car.

While the car was moving he jumped out and had one of his legs run over, Mr Hancock told the court.

“It was traumatic and destabilising and very much set the scene for that matter,” Mr Hancock said.

The court was told Coon had been using ice, cannabis and GHB prior to the offence and the incident involving the gun, and had then relapsed with heroin.

The court heard on July 26, about 12.30am, Coon and two other co-offenders were seen on CCTV footage outside the Geelong police station performing a burnout in a stolen car.

During Coon’s wild driving spree, the court was told he almost collided head on with an unmarked police car as he was travelling on the wrong side of the road.

Police said the police vehicle needed to take immediate action to avoid a collision.

Throughout the early hours of the morning, Coon was travelling “erratically” and at speeds in excess of 140 km/h on the Princes Highway.

A police helicopter spotted Coon driving about 1.18am and police set up road spikes in Tully St, East Geelong to stop the car.

The vehicle lost a tyre as a result and continued driving through Whittington. Due to the dangerous nature of the pursuit, police had to disengage.

“The vehicle continued, and police airwing observed the accused travelling on the wrong side of Wilson’s road driving with no headlights,” police said.

The court was told Coon eventually came to a stop where he performed a burnout, exited the vehicle and was then arrested.

Police checks revealed Coon was unlicensed and had never held a licence in Victoria.

Magistrate Ann McGarvie adjourned sentencing until next Monday.

Originally published as Ryan Coon pleads guilty to dangerous driving charges