A 22-year-old man wanted for 55 traffic offences including several for speeds of more than 150km/h in Brisbane’s northern suburbs has finally been nabbed.
Watch the Queensland Police video below of several occasions where the rider is spotted by police who give up the chase for public safety reasons when he speeds off.
He is also seen dangerously lane splitting at high speed through the city’s tunnels.
Police allege the rider is a “prolific high-speed motorcycle rider committing numerous life-endangering offences”.
He was finally arrested on 2 January 2020 when an off-duty Road Policing Investigations Unit officer spotted his motorcycle, a Suzuki GSX-R600 with the stolen plate, “RUNIT”, in an Alderly hotel carpark.
We alerted riders to the rise in plate theft and cloning back last month.
Road Policing Investigations Unit
Bike spotted in hotel carparkThe RPIU is a specialised unit who identify and track prolific and recidivist traffic offenders “whose manner of driving is a clear danger to other road users, as well as themselves”.
It also identifies and locates vehicles and drivers committing serious criminal offences using our road networks, such as drug couriers and property crime offenders.
Police will allege the Suzuki was used in more than 50 speeding offences in and around Brisbane between October and December 2019.
Since identification may be part of the rider’s defence, he cannot be named at this stage.
When arrested, the 22-year-old Stafford Heights man was in possession of a backpack which was found to allegedly contain methylamphetamine and a set of scales, as well as 13 Queensland and New South Wales driver licences, four Australian passports and one UK passport and 13 Medicare cards.
Backpack contentsHe also allegedly had possession of another cloned registration plate for the same make and model of his motorbike.
The man was subjected to a Roadside Drug Test which police allege returned a positive result.
The RPIU charged the man with 36 offences and issued him with 55 traffic infringement notices for speeding, as well as impounding his motorcycle for forfeiture.
Offences include:
- 1 count of possess dangerous drugs exceeding Schedule 2
- 1 count of possess property suspected of being used in a drug offence
- 1 count of drug driving
- 1 count of tainted property (stolen registration plate)
- 2 counts of evade police
- 2 counts of disqualified driving
- 4 counts of unlicensed driving
- 6 counts of unregistered vehicle
- 6 counts of uninsured vehicle
- 6 counts of false plates
- 1 count of possess item purporting to be a registration plate (that is, a “cloned” plate)
- 2 counts of fail to stop at red light
- 2 counts of disobeying the speed limit
- 1 count of breach a domestic violence order
He is due to face Brisbane Magistrates Court on February 3.
The 55 speeding infringement notices are for allegedly exceeding the speed limit in the tunnels, Brisbane streets, as well as on the Bruce Highway, including 30 high-speed offences where his alleged speed was more than 40km/h over the speed limit.
The highest alleged speeds were on three occasions when the motorcycle was detected travelling at 178, 175 and 172km/h in a 100 zone on the Gympie Arterial Road, Bald Hills. The Suzuki was also allegedly detected travelling at 155, 149 and 147km/h in an 80 zone in the Airport Link Tunnel, Wooloowin.
Investigations by the Gateway Property Crime team continue with the man also charged with five counts of tainted property and one count of obtaining or dealing with identity information.
He will, also face these charges when he appears in court next month.
High-speed offences
Acting Superintendent Flanders , Operations Commander, Road Policing Command, his team of “highly skilled investigators” can monitor, identify and locate drivers engaged in dangerous behaviour.
Late last year RPIU officers analysing high-speed camera detections focused attention on a motorcycle speeding at 205km/h in a 70 zone on Sandgate Road, Boondall, at 10.50pm on 10 April 2019.
“This speed was almost three times the limit and was clearly extremely dangerous driving behaviour. There is no margin for error when travelling at speeds more suited to a racetrack than a suburban road,” he says.
The unit identified the vehicle from speed camera images and on 12 September 2019 they searched a Taigum home where they found the jacket and helmet worn by the rider in the camera image.
A 27-year-old Taigum man was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle (with a high-speed circumstance of aggravation).
He pleaded guilty in Sandgate Magistrates Court on 8 November 2020 and received a 12-month licence disqualification and 15 months’ probation.