A Hunter resident who was sleeping in his car awoke to find trespassers on his property in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
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Raymond Terrace police said the man was on high alert after being the victim of a previous break and enter, so had taken to sleeping in his vehicle on his Newline Road property.
The man told police he heard noises coming from a shipping container on his property. When the he investigated the noise, he found two other men and a silver Nissan X-Trail.
The resident immediately started his car and used it to block the driveway and main access point to his property, trapping the Nissan X-Trail in his grounds, before calling police about 1.40am. A short time later police arrived on scene to find the silver X-Trail being driven erratically around the property.
The vehicle then busted through a fence and accelerated off along Newline Road.
Officers followed the trail of destruction left by the vehicle and found the Nissan about 200 metres down the road, where it had crashed into an embankment.
A 38-year-old man was still inside the vehicle when police arrived at the scene. He suffered serious injuries during the crash, including a collapsed lung and possible fractured skull. He was taken to John Hunter Hospital where he remains in a stable condition.
The alleged passenger of the vehicle, a 29-year-old man, fled into the nearby bushland. Police gave chase and he was arrested at the scene. During a search of the man’s bag, police allegedly found a folding knife.
The 38-year-old man was charged with eight offences including trespass, aggravated break and enter in company, possess house breaking implements, commit a serious and indictable offence, reckless driving and drive whilst disqualified.
He was refused bail to appear in Newcastle Local Court on Friday.
The 29-year-old was charged with four offences including trespass, carry a weapon on apprehension, break and enter and aggravated break and enter in company.
He was refused bail to appear to Raymond Terrace Local Court on November 6.
Jessica Brown
Jessica began her journalism career in 2009 as a cadet at The Port Stephens Examiner before moving to London for a two-year stint working in magazines and digital publishing. The Lake Macquarie local returned to Australia where she took up a reporting role at The Maitland Mercury. She worked across several rounds including local council, police and property before moving into digital journalism and joining the team at The Newcastle Herald in 2017.
Jessica began her journalism career in 2009 as a cadet at The Port Stephens Examiner before moving to London for a two-year stint working in magazines and digital publishing. The Lake Macquarie local returned to Australia where she took up a reporting role at The Maitland Mercury. She worked across several rounds including local council, police and property before moving into digital journalism and joining the team at The Newcastle Herald in 2017.
