A 25-year-old man who hid from police after setting fire to a car and leading cops on a high-speed pursuit will remain behind bars.
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Jason Dean Eggins, of Leumeah Road, Orange and Pierce Street, Wellington, has been in custody since May 18, 2023 and was sentenced for a series of break and enters, thefts, two police pursuits and a car fire in Orange Local Court on Wednesday, October 4.
Magistrate David Day labelled the igniting of a car in bushland outside of Orange on the morning of his arrest as "extremely dangerous" but said the break and enters were the most serious of the crimes.
According to documents submitted to the court, Eggins drove a Subaru Impreza to Dubbo, Orange, Lucknow and Bathurst where he and three passengers committed a series of break and enters overnight on May 16 and 17 this year.
He was then involved in a high-speed police pursuit through residential streets of Orange at 7.38am where he exceeded 100km/h, went the wrong way around roundabouts, drove on the wrong side of the road, overtook other cars and almost crashed into two vehicles.
He was also sentenced for stealing $2000 worth of items from the Cudal RFS, stealing $500 worth of groceries from Woolworths and attempting to break into a petrol station at Manildra.
Crime spree
According to police, the first stop of the May crime spree was the Early Settlers shop in Cobra Street, Dubbo about 11.40pm on May 16, 2023.
Eggins then drove to Orange where one of the passengers smashed the front windows of the Intersport shop off William Street and multiple items of clothing were stolen.
About 2am he drove to the Metro Petroleum on the Mitchell Highway at Lucknow where the glass doors were smashed and assorted snacks were stolen. The incident was captured on high-quality CCTV and Eggins was seen entering the store and covering his head with a blue bed sheet but his face was clearly seen.
From there he drove to Bathurst where an attempt was made to break into Harvey Norman at Kelso but the alarm was triggered and they fled. However, they were successful in stealing more clothes from Intersport in William Street, Bathurst at 3.35am.
Police saw Eggins sitting in the Impreza at 7.30am in Spring Street after he'd returned to Orange and approached the vehicle, which was suspected of being involved in the break and enters. But Eggins, whose driver's licence was disqualified, sped away.
Orange Highway Patrol saw the car again in Hill Street at 7.38am when Eggins overtook a Mazda CX-5 and a pursuit was initiated.
Eggins reached speeds of 120km/h throughout the pursuit and narrowly avoided crashing into a car at the roundabout at Dalton and Hill streets. He drove through a grass reserve on Phillip Street, overtook cars on the Northern Distributor Road and almost hit an oncoming vehicle, which was forced to slam on its brakes on Molong Road.
Police ended the pursuit - which was about 12.4km in length - outside Orange High School.
Eggins then dumped the stolen clothing, a pair of bolt cutters and the bed sheet at the Orange Homemaker Centre.
At 8.30am Eggins drove at an unmarked police car and veered at the last second.
He later set the Impreza on fire at Gosling Creek Reserve on Bloomfield Road.
Police came across the burning vehicle and found Eggins hiding in the bushes nearby a short time later.
Disaster averted
Eggins was in custody when he appeared in Orange Local Court for sentencing.
Solicitor Andrew Rolfe didn't argue against the custodial threshold being crossed but said Eggins has an intellectual disability, "only went to year 7 at school" and has a background of disadvantage.
Mr Rolfe said Eggins' alleged co-offenders in the break and enters have pleaded not guilty but Eggins pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to all charges.
"There was an issue with drugs in the offending behaviour," Mr Rolfe said.
"During that period he was using ice."
Police prosecutor Sergeant Beau Riley said Eggins was the "ring leader" and provided the vehicle for the crime spree adding the police pursuit and using the car as a weapon against police were particularly serious.
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"Lighting the fire, that could have been disastrous for the communities outside of Orange," Sergeant Riley said.
"Fire in these conditions is extremely dangerous."
Mr Rolfe argued Eggins' wasn't the ring leader and although he provided the vehicle he was persuaded by other people.
The sentence
Mr Day sentenced Eggins to three years, six months of full-time jail with a two-year non parole period back-dated to when he was arrested on May 17, 2023.
He could be eligible to be released on parole on May 16, 2025.
"One of the concerns for all these matters is Mr Eggins' liking for drugs," Mr Day said and added provision for drug rehabilitation in other sentences that will start after Eggins is released from custody.
Upon his release from jail, Eggins will be subject to a two-year supervised community correction order requiring rehabilitation and treatment for stealing from the Cudal Rural Fire Service on October 4, 2022.
He was also given two, two-year CCO and a six-month driving disqualification for driving while disqualified and a $50 petrol station drive off at Wellington on March 30, 2023.
Eggins also received 12-month driving disqualifications for the two police pursuits and he was convicted convicted without further penalty and disqualified from driving for three months for driving when he'd never held a licence on July 21, 2022.
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