A MAN accused of pulling a gun on police moments after he allegedly rammed an officer’s car has been refused bail.
Kyle Peter Green, 25, was said to have been shot at twice by police during the incident, which sparked a manhunt, with at least one of the bullets going through the driver’s seat headrest.
Green appeared in the dock of Ballarat Magistrates Court yesterday where he stands charged with 26 offences including reckless conduct endangering life, trafficking a drug of dependence and more than a dozen driving charges.
Detective Sergeant Craig Dooley spent more than two hours in the witness box, telling the court how Green — who he said has never held a driver’s license — was a danger to the public and “appeared to enjoy police pursuits”.
“He’s just a crazy bastard behind the wheel,” Sergeant Dooley said.
“He appears confident in his driving abilities and appears to enjoy initiating police pursuits and then evading those units.”
Sergeant Dooley said police had even established a “no pursuit” policy when Green was seen driving because his alleged offending had repeatedly endangered public safety.
Green was allegedly involved in a string of drug and driving offences in the week leading up to August 31 this year, including two high speed police chases.
He allegedly “baited” police during one of the pursuits.
Sergeant Dooley said the spree began just before midnight on August 25 when police, having been told of a domestic dispute, approached a vehicle Green was driving. It sped away.
Moments later police found the car smashed into a power pole with the driver having taken off on foot.
Upon searching the vehicle police found a credit card belonging to Green, as well as 8.8 grams of a crystal substance believed to be ice, a set of digital scales and more than $3000 cash.
Two mobile phones were also found which allegedly linked Green to the car.
Defence lawyer Mike Wardell said there was no proof his client was driving the car when it crashed, saying fingerprint evidence had also linked two other people facing drug trafficking charges to the vehicle.
Further, he denied Green had an ice addiction, saying there was no tangible evidence he was a drug user.
Sergeant Dooley said Green’s most recent offending occurred on August 31 when he allegedly rammed a parked police car in Ballarat East.
He said Green then put both his hands up in the air in a “surrender gesture”, before reaching into the driver’s seat footwell area and raising what police believed to be a firearm.
Sergeant Dooley said an officer fired two bullets at Green, which he admitted could have been fatal had the accused been sitting upright.
“Well it’s gone through the headrest,” he said.
The firearms incident is also the subject of a separate investigation by the Ethical Standards Department, the court heard.
Green has not been charged with any firearms offences, and police admit the alleged weapon has not been found.
After more than three hours of evidence, magistrate Peter Couzens refused bail, saying Green was an unacceptable risk of reoffending, endangering the safety and welfare of the public and of failing to appear.
Green blew a kiss to his large group of supporters as he was led back into the police cells.
He was remanded to appear back in court for contest mention on November 14.
