Police say accused carjacker granted bail days before alleged Melbourne CBD crime spree
In short:
A Melbourne court has heard that a man accused of multiple carjackings was already on bail for other offences at the time of his arrest.
Simon Michael Davies allegedly stole a car and threatened to kill healthcare workers two days before his arrest on Tuesday.
Mr Davies’s lawyers argued that their client should be granted bail, but bail was denied.
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A man accused of committing multiple carjackings across Melbourne while wielding a fake gun was on bail for stealing a car and threatening to kill hospital staff just two days earlier, a Melbourne court has heard.
Simon Michael Davies, 48, was charged with several offences, including attempted aggravated burglary, aggravated carjacking with an imitation firearm, assault and making threats to kill, following an alleged crime spree on Tuesday that stretched from Tarneit to North Melbourne and Melbourne’s CBD.
Guests at the Lancemore Crossley St hotel in Little Bourke St were forced to flee in terror after Mr Davies allegedly entered the hotel lobby carrying the fake firearm, before he was arrested by tactical officers and taken to hospital, visibly bloodied and under police guard.
The Hoppers Crossing man appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates Court via video-link from his hospital bed at the Royal Melbourne on Wednesday, where the court heard Mr Davies posed an “unacceptable risk” to the community.
Police say alleged offender threatened healthcare workers
Police told the court that two days before his alleged offending on Tuesday, Mr Davies had stolen a car in Laverton, where he was arrested and allegedly found with a small amount of methylamphetamine and cannabis.
Later that same day, Mr Davies attended Werribee Mercy Hospital, telling staff that his skin was burning.
He allegedly refused treatment from anyone who was “not Australian”, becoming “racist and aggressive” to hospital staff, before he was removed by security.
Police say Mr Davies, who was carrying a wine bottle, then smashed the bottle and pointed it at the security guard.
“You see this bottle? I will kill you,” Mr Davies is alleged to have said.
The court heard Mr Davies had previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but was self-medicating using methylamphetamine and cannabis and had not sought mental health treatment since 2016.
Defence pushes for client to be bailed again
Today, his lawyers made an application for bail, which was opposed by prosecutors, who argued there were no bail conditions that they believed would ensure the safety and welfare of the public.
Acting Detective Sergeant Jeremy Hart from the Wyndham Crime Investigation Unit told the court the 48-year-old’s actions on Tuesday were “extremely dangerous”, even though the gun was fake.
“The amount of innocent members of the public who’ve had to run believing this firearm was real … it was genuine fear that the firearm was real and that they were at threat,” Mr Hart said.
The application for bail was denied by the court.
Lawyers for Mr Davies had argued that their client should be granted bail, telling the court that he was a “vulnerable person” due to his ill health.
The court heard Mr Davies had sustained multiple injuries during his arrest yesterday, and had a fractured eye socket, fractured ribs and a broken arm.
His lawyers also argued that Mr Davies was assessed by a psychiatrist today, who found he was “acutely unwell”, and that if he were bailed, he would be made an involuntary patient and not be permitted to leave the hospital.
Earlier during the hearing, Mr Davies interjected, telling the court that he had suffered a “hard upbringing.”
“I’m a very kind and compassionate and religious man,” Mr Davies told the magistrate.
“I would never in my lifetime harm any woman or child under any circumstances.”
He later doubled over and started sobbing.
Court hears alleged timeline of crime spree
Mr Davies’s alleged rampage on Tuesday began at 7.45am in Tarneit, when police say Mr Davies went to a BP service station at the intersection of Sayers Rd and Tarneit Rd with his wife.
After being told he would have to fill a fuel can himself, Mr Davies is alleged to have struck the convenience store worker in the chest with the container.
The Hoppers Crossing man then left, and allegedly attempted to steal a car driving along Tarneit Rd using a fake gun.
“Get out of the car and give me the keys,” police allege Mr Davies said.
Police told the court Mr Davies was estranged from his wife, who had provided a statement regarding the incident.
Mr Davies, upon realising the driver had taken the car keys, then approached a second car that had stopped on the road, yelling at the female driver: “You need to get out,” and “I’m sorry, I will buy you a Lamborghini”.
He was later observed speeding on the West Gate Freeway in Spotswood and driving into oncoming traffic, before arriving at Macauley Road in North Melbourne, where he then approached another car.
Police say Mr Davies pointed his fake gun at the driver and forced the man out, before apologising for “ruining his day” and promising he “wouldn’t wreck the car”.
He allegedly drove into Melbourne’s CBD, where witnesses saw him honking his horn and swerving over the road.
Upon getting out of the car, police say he handed the car keys to a member of the public, who observed that Mr Davies was swaying and appeared to be drug and alcohol affected.
He was found by police on a city street, smoking a cigarette, and was ordered to drop his gun.
The court heard Mr Davies then fled, at one point pointing the fake gun directly at an officer, before running into the Lancemore Crossley St hotel.
He was pursued into a staff elevator at the rear of the hotel by members from Victoria Police’s Special Operations Group, where he was then arrested and transported to hospital.
Houston police release photo of suspect as search continues for stolen car and support dog
The dog has a microchip in her that’s registered to her owner, which is something that would help connect them if she is found.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Police are asking for the public’s help identifying a man accused of robbing a woman and not only getting away with her car, but also her dog.
The carjacking happened at a gas station in the 900 block of Westheimer Road at Montrose Boulevard on Wednesday, Jan. 1.
In an update a week later, the Houston Police Department Robbery Division released a surveillance photo of the man they are calling the suspect. He’s described as a Black male with a long beard. He was wearing a dark-colored short-sleeved shirt and black pants during the robbery.
The car and dog — a 9-year-old half Maltese, half Papillon named Isabella — still haven’t been found after they were stolen on New Year’s Day.
PREVIOUS REPORT: Woman mourns after her car was stolen while her support dog was inside: ‘She’s my everything’
ABC13 spoke to the victim, Chelsea Vogler, after the carjacking.
“I know she misses me,” Vogler said of Isabella.
Isabella is more than just her pet. She’s an emotional support animal who’s been with her every step of the way for nine years.
“She’s my everything. She’s the one who lives with me. She’s what I come home to and take out every night. She’s everything to me,” Vogler said.
Vogler said she made a stop at the gas station and left her car running because Isabella was inside.
When she came back out, she saw a man trying to steal her car.
She said she rushed over and grabbed the door handle to try and save Isabella as the suspect sped off.
“I had to let go at some point. I had to let go because he was going too fast,” Vogler said. She suffered severe bruising and lacerations to her face and head.
She said it was a painful moment as she watched a stranger take away something so precious to her.
“I don’t know how this person could have even done this. The audacity this person has,” she said.
Her pain is affecting family members as well.
“It’s awful. It’s horrifying. It’s put a hole in our family. We’re a close-knit little group. My mother, my sister, and I,” Heather O’Conner, Vogler’s sister, said.
That missing piece is Isabella, and all they want is to reunite with her so this family can be whole again.
“At least give me my dog. Take the car. I don’t care. Just give me my dog,” Vogler said.
The car that was stolen is a 2013 two-door red Honda Accord with a Florida license plate ending in Z85. Isabella has a microchip that’s registered to Vogler, something that would help connect them if she is found.
Anyone with information related to the investigation is encouraged to call Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).
