A 19-year-old man allegedly stole more than $20,000 worth of items across the Ballarat area in less than 10 days, a court has heard.
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Damon Bowman, who has been charged with a string of offences including aggravated burglary and theft of a motor vehicle appeared in the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Sam Young told the court Bowman stole a Nissan valued at $17,000 from the Bridge Mall on December 28.
The same car was seen on CCTV on January 2 driving into a Main Road restaurant car park where the accused allegedly intended to steal another car.
Senior Constable Young told the court the accused was also among a group of people who were travelling at high speeds along the Western Highway near Trawalla on January 4.
He said the car, which was travelling at 160km/h, was being followed by police before it slammed on the breaks, forcing police to take evasive action to avoid crashing into the car.
The court heard the car’s occupants fled on foot and a large scale search was conducted but none of the occupants were located.
The accused’s phone was located in a search of the car.
Senior Constable Young said the accused and two males were also involved in a burglary at a Ballarat property on January 6 where Bowman allegedly removed items, including bikes and a whipper snipper, totaling $5300 from the garage.
He said the accused, who was carrying a kitchen knife and using a large amount of ice at the time, also stole a garage remote control from a car in the area.
Bowman made no application for bail and was remanded to appear in court on January 25.