By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A man has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving after a furious, tyre-squealing “brain snap” in front of police in the Dandenong Plaza car park.
Nathan Richards, 40, had driven to the shopping centre about 7pm on 11 March after his wife rang him to say she had been assaulted.
Police in attendance saw him arrive “fast” at the McCrae Street side, losing rear traction during a U-turn.
He narrowly missed a police car while he parked directly behind it, a police prosecutor told Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 23 July.
Richards was said to have approached two police officers in an “aggressive” manner, declaring himself as the victim’s partner.
After the exchange, he is said to have revved his car’s engine with his two children on board. He then deliberately accelerated so that his rear tyres lost traction, police told the court.
At a roundabout, his car slid left to right near pedestrians and commuters at a bus shelter.
He drove north on Foster Street, re-entering the multi-deck car park. Police reported that they could hear wheels squealing inside the structure.
Richards parked his car in a ‘police-only’ parking bay, ignoring police officers’ demands for him to move.
He got out of the car, shouting abuse at the officers as they spoke to witnesses about the assault.
Ignoring requests to “move on”, he was sprayed with capsicum foam and arrested.
Defence lawyer Nick Power said Richards, a truck driver with no prior convictions, disputed several aspects of the police account.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen said Richards’s “long brain snap” seemed out of character, noting his admissions and remorse.
“On multiple occasions the police called you to back down but it didn’t get through.”
He was disqualified from driving for six months, and placed on a 12-month good-behaviour bond.
