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The man who stole two police cars in one night, while in handcuffs, has been incarcerated for a year and eight months.
Malcolm Wallace, 19, also known as Malcolm Karauria, had a 12-day crime spree during the Level 4 Covid lockdown.
It ended with him stealing a police car while handcuffed, being hunted down and arrested again, then stealing a second police car, while still handcuffed.
He appeared in Napier District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to a long list of charges.
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John Bisset / Stuff
The first police car Wallace stole was operated by a proximity key and the officer with the key was close enough to allow Wallace to start the car. (File photo)
Wallace, who has had “NAPIER” tattooed on his face since he was taken into custody, was represented by attorney Eric Forster.
Forster said there was a “relative inevitability” about the crime, given Wallace’s past, but argued that his youth and the issues raised in a cultural report were mitigating factors.
Judge Bridget Mackintosh said Wallace’s offense “is not a good read.”
Stuff
Malcolm Wallace appeared in Napier District Court via video link in July.
She said the cultural report revealed that Wallace had grown up in conditions of social deprivation, had been exposed to drugs, alcohol and gangs from a young age, and had spent a lot of time in the care of the state.
He said that the reports before him showed that Wallace was a smart young man who had significant problems with drug use, and he urged him to take advantage of the help available to him in prison.
“Life will not be easy for you, but there are people who are trying to help.”
She ordered a $ 4,500 repair but “had no confidence that it would be returned in any meaningful way.”
With discounts for an early plea of guilt, youth, remorse and matters contained in the cultural report, he sentenced him to 20 months in prison.
He was disqualified from driving for a year.
Wallace’s spree began in Napier with the theft of a man’s Holden Commodore on the morning of April 2.
Wallace drove the car into a closed park, where he created plumes of smoke and a lot of noise while using a cell phone to film himself burns.
Later that day, he lost control of the stolen car near Hawke’s Bay airport. He drove the significantly damaged car to Bay View, north of Napier, and then abandoned it.
A police dog tracked him to an address, where police found a reasonably sophisticated cannabis growing operation and 15 medium-sized plants.
He was charged and released on bail.
A week later, on April 9, Wallace stole another car. He was chased by police and collided with a car owned by a member of the public, then two police cars, then sped down Kennedy Rd into oncoming traffic. The police gave up the chase.
Five days later, Wallace was the subject of another manhunt, driving at 120 km / h in an area of 50 km / h. Police chased him through suburban streets but gave up the chase.
Later that night, an off-duty police officer noticed that Wallace was driving the stolen car. Wallace was found in Havelock North, arrested, handcuffed and put in the back of a police car.
Stuff
Wallace was sentenced at Napier on Friday.
As the officer driving the car talked to others to arrange transportation, Wallace managed to put his legs through the handcuffs, so his hands were in front of him. He got into the driver’s seat and closed the car doors.
The car was operated by a proximity key and the officer with the key was close enough to allow Wallace to start the car. What he did and then left. Police chased him through Havelock North and Hastings at speeds of up to 160 km / h in 50 km / h areas.
Wallace drove to Taihape, where he was eventually located and arrested. They handcuffed him and put him back in the back of a police car.
As the officer driving the car went to retrieve the spikes from the road, Wallace again managed to put his legs through the handcuffs. He started the police car and drove away, but the spikes in the road stopped him after traveling a short distance.
Wallace pleaded guilty to a number of charges, including violating the Civil Defense Emergency Act, growing cannabis, possessing cannabis, reckless driving, illegally driving, dangerous driving, reckless driving, escaping custody and failing to stop at police.
