Man jailed for involvement in police chase with stolen BMW
A PASSENGER in one of two stolen BMWs involved in a lengthy police chase through Brisbane and Ipswich streets on Easter Monday has been jailed for 22 days.
Shaquille Ian Mimi, 18 now but 17 at the time, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Friday to unlawfully using a car by being a passenger in one of the stolen BMWs.
The black BMW Z4 convertible and white 4WD X5 drove through back streets and busy intersections, often at high speeds.
When the BMWs split up, the drivers took different paths through suburban streets, past shopping centres and school zones, roundabouts and red lights.
One of the cars was stopped using stinger devises to deflate the tyres at Forest Lake.
The other BMW stopped at the Mount Ommaney shopping centre and its occupants were caught inside the centre.
Mimi, from Woorabinda, was among 17 young people arrested when the chases ended on April 9 last year.
Crown prosecutor Chris Minnery told the court the owner of the cars learned they were stolen when police woke him up at 4am that day.
He said the owner later learned where the cars were when a mate rang to tell him to watch footage of the police chase from news helicopters hovering above the city.
Defence barrister Tim Ryan said Mimi was born in Kingaroy and grew up in Cherbourg.
He said his client was staying with his aunt at Darra, near Ipswich, before the chase and found himself drifting into the wrong crowd.
Mr Ryan said Mimi did not have alcohol or drug problems and had completed two courses in jail.
Mimi had already served 199 days in custody for other offences which were finalised in the Ipswich courts last month.
Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren sentenced him to the 22 days he has served since then.
Mimi was immediately released on parole.
