Fugitive seized in Ipswich
POLICE used 'stinger' road spikes and then a taser to subdue a man wanted by Victoria Police for stealing a car with three children inside.
The 43-year-old suspect had been on the run from Victorian authorities since March 12, when it is alleged he stole a young mother-of-three's station wagon from outside a laundromat in the Gippsland area near Melbourne.
The vehicle had three boys, aged one, two and five in it at the time and, although the boys were later allowed to get out and return to their mother, police took the matter very seriously.
Police believed the stolen Falcon was driven north and dumped, and replaced by another stolen car, which detectives in Ipswich will allege the offender had been sleeping in by the side of the road before this week's incident.
In a dramatic chain of events which began in Boonah, south of Ipswich, late Thursday night, a 43-year-old man allegedly pulled two knives on police officers who tried to detain him at the side of Allandale Rd.
It will be alleged that the man tried to attack the officers with the knives before fleeing in the vehicle.
From that initial confrontation, about 11pm, there was a brief pursuit before police followed the man and a stolen Toyota Hilux utility about 35km north to Rosewood-Warrill View Rd, where the stinger was laid and the ute crashed into a fence.
Ipswich Detective Senior Constable Kris Steadman said although there was a significant distance between the initial attempted intercept and the stinger, police avoided a high-speed pursuit.
Police will claim that after the crash, the driver refused to get out, so officers smashed a window and tasered him.
Scott Edward Redpath, 43, from Ballarat East in Victoria, was charged with two counts each of serious assault on police, one count of going armed to cause fear, wilful damage and failing to provide a breath specimen
He refused to speak to the duty lawyer when he faced Ipswich Magistrates Court yesterday.
He was remanded in custody and was expected to reappear in court on Monday.
He is likely to be extradited to Victoria on car theft in March once his matters are dealt with in Queensland.
