A man banned from driving until 2063 is accused of leading a high-speed pursuit through Woonona and Bulli in a car with mismatched number plates – both stolen – before t-boning a police car.
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Police say Nathan Wayne Geurin accelerated to 140km/h before the red and blue lights in his rear-view mirror dropped away, then disappeared from view, on Memorial Drive late Sunday.
Multiple passers-by would contact Wollongong police to report seeing a white sedan driving the wrong way down the 80km/h-zoned roadway in the minutes that followed.
Police caught up with Geurin at a home on Popes Road, Woonona later in the night. They noticed the street was smokey, and the air smelled strange.
Behind a garage roller door they allegedly found a white Holden Commodore with mismatched plates.
“The garage was full of smoke and smelled of burning brakes. There was a large amount of heat emanating from the vehicle,” police alleged, in documents tendered to Wollongong Local Court on Monday.
Patrolling police had noticed the Commodore on Hillcrest Avenue Woonona, about 10.25pm Sunday.
They gave chase after the driver allegedly ran a red light and accelerated to 120km/h in a 60km/h zone.
The pursuit continued at high speed through a series of residential streets – Park Road and Trinity Row, Farrell Road and Franklin Avenue, where the Holden allegedly ran a Give Way sign and “almost became airborne”.
Faced with a dead end on Franklin Avenue, Geurin allegedly pulled up on the nature strip before performing a U-turn and ploughing into the police car.
He allegedly ignored an officer who held up his hand and yelled at him to stop, instead scraping past the police car and driving on, before police abandoned the chase on Memorial Drive.
At the Popes Road address, a woman told police she was driving the Holden and had led the chase.
But police allege they got a good look at the driver’s face during the Franklin Avenue encounter. They searched the home and allegedly found Geurin, 27, of Bellambi, hiding under a blanket, unwilling to place his wrists in handcuffs.
Police also allegedly found methamphetamine and cannabis during a search of the property.
Geurin was arrested after a short struggle and taken to Wollongong Hospital for mandatory blood and urine testing, before being taken to Wollongong Police Station.
He was charged with drive whilst disqualified, breach of bail, drive manner dangerous – police pursuit (Skye’s Law), fail to stop and common assault.
He was refused bail at court on Monday.
The matter returns to court later this month.
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