It was 8.45am on a Tuesday in February when Jason Lee Rees found himself standing naked out the front of the Wollongong Collision Repairs workshop in Gladstone Avenue, asking police not to shoot him.
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Just minutes earlier, the recent parolee had been behind the wheel of his Hyundai Excel trying to overtake another car when he collided head-on with a Volvo travelling towards him.
Luckily, the other driver had noticed Rees approaching with enough time to slow her car down to avoid a heavy impact.
Still, police said it was a miracle neither the woman nor the six-month-old child seated in the rear of her car was injured in the crash.
Meantime, officers had finally found Rees after searching for him for more than 45 minutes that morning following a series of calls from concerned residents about a shirtless man causing trouble and driving erratically around the neighbourhood.
However, Rees’ prior strange behaviour soon took another bizarre turn.
As police approached the 41-year-old, he stripped off his remaining clothes and stood naked in front of them with his arms and legs stretched out, calling for officers not to shoot him.
Police told Rees to lie on the ground, which he did, however as they tried to arrest him, he became highly aggressive and made several threats towards officers.
He was arrested and taken to Wollongong police station where he continued to rage at police, threatening to infect them with AIDS, throw his faeces at them and kill them.
Officers chose not to take Rees to the hospital for blood and urine testing out of fear for the safety of other patients and hospital staff, but said they believed he was well affected by drugs.
In Port Kembla Local Court on Tuesday, Rees pleaded guilty to charges of reckless driving, driving while disqualified and intimidating police.
Defence lawyer Jonathan Kearney admitted Rees’ actions had been bizarre, but attributed them to a mix of mental health issues and the effects of withdrawing from methadone.
He said Rees was in a state of fear at the time, believing someone was out to kill him.
‘‘He was suffering from a significant psychotic episode as a result of withdrawing from the medication,’’ Mr Kearney told the court.
Magistrate Michael Stoddart accepted that Rees had shown remorse over the incident since his arrest, but said his behaviour had been atrocious.
Rees was jailed for a total of 12 months and banned from driving for a further five years.
With time already served, he will be released on parole next February.
