An Oamaru thief who attempted a getaway on a stolen quadbike collided with the owners who were in pursuit.
At 7pm on November 20, Luke Henry Rhodes (29) entered a property in Morven, where he found a quadbike in the owners’ garage, the Oamaru District Court heard this week.
The keys were in the ignition so Rhodes climbed aboard and drove it a short distance down the road to where his associates were waiting in a vehicle.
Hearing the motor of the quadbike, the owners got in their car and followed the man — sounding their horn several times in an effort to stop him.
Driving up a riverbed, Rhodes looked back at his victims several times but refused to stop.
While one of the victims checked on Rhodes, his associates in the getaway vehicle caught up to them — piling him into their car before fleeing.
As a result of the collision, the man complained of headaches and believed he suffered a concussion.
Counsel Ngaire Alexander said her client was stealing to fund his methamphetamine habit and his offending was more "opportunistic than premeditated".
Rhodes faced charges of theft and shoplifting, as he attempted to steal $1600 of tools from Mitre 10 Mega in Dunedin a little over two months later.
"Dishonesty is a recurring theme in your convictions," Judge Bruce Davidson said.
"Methamphetamine is the catalyst for these dishonesty offences," Mrs Alexander said.
"He realises the road he was on was only really leading him to this place."
Rhodes was sentenced to five months’ community detention, 12 months’ intensive supervision and ordered to pay reparation of $1000 for some of the damage caused to the owners’ vehicle.
