Two failed car thieves allegedly spent hours hiding in bushes before they were spotted by a neighbour, a court has been told.
Details of the alleged incident were aired in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday as Boris Ristic, 40, sought bail on a charge of carjacking.
Detective Acting Sergeant Terry Harvey told the court the alleged victim was waiting on Wellington St, in the ritzy Melbourne suburb of Kew, to pick up his daughter from school about 4.30pm on February 24 when a white Mitsubishi Triton pulled up alongside his Mercedes-Benz.
The officer said the man reported two men jumping out of the Triton before it sped off. He said they produced a knife and demanded he hand over the luxury car.
Sergeant Harvey said one of the men, alleged to be Mr Ristic, “attempted to drive the vehicle away but was unable to select a gear”.
He told the court the alleged victim and another witness said they heard revving for about a minute before two men exited the car and fled down Wellington St.
Sergeant Harvey said police initially were unable to locate the two men but returned to the area closer to 9pm after a resident on Scott St called triple-0.
She’d checked her CCTV cameras, Sergeant Harvey told the court, and saw two figures enter the front yard of the property opposite her and hide in the shrubs, leaving hours later about 8.50pm.
One man, Maker Jal, 33, was arrested a short time later in the rear yard of a property on Scott St after police cordoned off the area, the court was told.
Sergeant Harvey said Mr Jal was allegedly in possession of the Mercedes-Benz key and a small amount of what is believed to be meth.
The court was told Mr Ristic was later arrested by officers from the critical incident response team after allegedly jumping fences and hiding on roofs.
It was alleged a black Tommy Hilfiger bag containing $1665, three Valium pills and a small bottle of Fireball whiskey was found in his “immediate vicinity” alongside an imitation firearm, Sergeant Harvey told the court.
Lawyer Lucien Richter, for Mr Ristic, took the officer to the statement of the alleged victim, who described both offenders as “black-skinned” males, noting his client was caucasian.
This was described as a “triable issue” by Mr Richter, who also told the court his client was not found with any items connecting him to the alleged carjacking.
The lawyer also suggested the CCTV footage of the alleged incident was “extremely obscured” and he did not understand how police could assert they believed his client was the person who attempted to drive the vehicle.
The court was told Mr Ristic, a painter by trade, had no prior involvement with the law and his mother, Elizabeth Ristic, was offering a $20,000 surety.
Mr Richter said his client had work available to him and had the support of a “stable and responsible family”.
The bail application was adjourned part-heard by magistrate Phillip Goldberg and will return to court on April 15.
Mr Jal was charged with carjacking, theft and possession of a drug of dependence and will next appear in court on Thursday.
