Police escort 29-year-old Antony Adrian Schuster through Canberra Airport after he was arrested in NSW over the allegations from April 2023. Photo: ACT Policing.
A “strong Christian man” has been refused bail after he was accused of crashing a stolen car and then stealing the vehicle of the Good Samaritan who stopped to help him at the scene of the accident.
Antony Adrian Schuster, a 29-year-old from O’Connor, faced the ACT Magistrates Courts over the allegations again on Thursday (4 July), a day before his 30th birthday.
He went to a home in Ngunnawal at about 5 am on 28 April 2023, got into a minutes-long street fight with another man, then drove off in a stolen Toyota Corolla, police allege in court documents.
Police arrived to see the Corolla leaving and tried to stop it, but the driver allegedly failed to stop for them and sped away while driving erratically.
Officers then used stop sticks to try to bring the car to a halt in Amaroo, but the driver allegedly evaded the sticks. They continued to monitor the vehicle and allegedly saw it speeding on Horse Park Drive, travelling on the wrong side of the road and nearly hitting another vehicle.
At about 5:40 am, a man was driving along Majura Parkway when he saw the Corolla crashed on a grass verge and stopped to assist.
He got out of his Opal Astra and was walking towards the Corolla when a truck driver, who had also pulled over, yelled out that someone was near his car. He turned around to allegedly see his Astra being driven off along the parkway.
Two hours later, police allegedly saw Schuster run out of the newsagency in Braidwood in NSW, and get into the Astra before driving away. They began a pursuit but terminated this shortly afterwards.
An unmarked police car then followed the Astra to Bodalla on the NSW South Coast, where it stopped because it ran out of fuel. Schuster was arrested in the driver’s seat.
He was arrested over the alleged ACT incident earlier this year when he was released from custody in NSW. He originally had his bail refused when he faced the Magistrates Court in February.
He then applied for bail on Thursday, which was opposed by the prosecution.
His Legal Aid lawyer said he had been in custody since April 2023 in NSW and the ACT, and he had written a letter that appeared to show he had a genuine shift in his mindset.
He said a friend had died and he described “going off the rails” with excessive drug use around the time of the allegations, but he had taken steps to address his drug use since going into custody.
His lawyer said he had “grown as a person” over the last year he spent in custody and was “a strong Christian man” who had the support of his church and his family.
However, Magistrate Glenn Theakston said it seemed “premature to be asking for bail”. He said the risk of alleged reoffending was too great and bail was refused.
Schuster was remanded in custody and the matter was adjourned to 11 July.
He faces charges that include taking a motor vehicle without consent, damaging property, failing to stop for police, dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.
Original Article published by Albert McKnight on Riotact.
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