A MAN, allegedly on the run from police following a crime spree in the Hunter Valley, was arrested after trying to escape through a prison farm at Muswellbrook.
On Monday, June 10, police pursued a stolen tipper truck around the Gloucester area.
Officers later discovered the vehicle, stolen from Surry Hills in Sydney, hidden on a local property.
About 10am on Tuesday, June 11, a grey Toyota Hilux, stolen from the area and fitted with stolen number plates, was used in a service station drive-off at Scone.
The vehicle was spotted and pursued by Muswellbrook police.
The chase ended two minutes later when the alleged thief crashed it through a farm fence on the New England Highway.
Motorists travelling between Muswellbrook and Aberdeen, at that time, would have witnessed about six police cars on the side of the road.
Officers from the Hunter Valley Police District pursued the driver on foot as he ran across an adjacent rail line into farm paddocks, the suspect unaware he had entered the grounds of St Heliers Correctional Centre.
The 46-year-old man was arrested and taken to the Muswellbrook Police Station where he was charged with 15 offences including stealing, steal motor vehicle, police pursuit (Skye's Law), fraud, drive manner dangerous, unlicensed driver, trespass, resist police, goods in custody and custody of knife.
He was refused bail and ordered to appear in the Muswellbrook Local Court on Wednesday, June 12.
