A man has been arrested and charged with a slew of offences after allegedly leading police on a wild chase across land and water.
Officers were called to Golden Beach, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, after an allegedly stolen Ford Ranger crashed into the front of a house at 5.30am on Monday.
A 28-year-old man from Caboolture is accused of driving the vehicle then allegedly fleeing to the waterfront with the home’s owner, Aaron Mason Smith, in pursuit.
He was able to avoid Mr Smith by jumping into the water, but was found by police swimming in the nearby Pumicestone Passage shortly after.
Senior sergeant John Van Egmond said the man was known to police and allegedly barricaded himself on a boat and ‘armed himself with some knives and poured petrol on himself’.
Footage of the dramatic incident showed the shirtless man wearing a large life jacket while staring down specialist police as they attempted to negotiate with him.
He then dramatically jumped off the boat covered in a tarp before swimming to another vessel nearby where police allege he ‘made threats’.
Officers pepper sprayed the man as he hung off the side before he surrendered himself to police.
A 28-year-old man has been arrested and faces a slew of charges after allegedly crashing a stolen vehicle into a home before leading police on a wild chose in a nearby bay (pictured)
Mr Mason said the initial crash sounded ‘like a bomb had gone off’ in his home and woke up both him and his wife.
‘I just woke up and thought, ‘Jesus, is this the end of the world?’ Something crashed into my house. I didn’t know what was going on,’ he told 9News.
No one was injured in the crash, however Mr Mason’s home, which he had bought just six months earlier, was deemed not safe to live in.
Queensland Police’s Brod Doolan praised Mr Smith for taking up pursuit as he gave officers a ‘really good idea’ as to where he was.
Police allege the Ford was stolen in Wurtulla, about 8km north of Golden Beach, earlier that morning.
Police allege the man barricaded himself on a boat in Pumicestone Passage, southern Sunshine Coast, before allegedly arming himself with knives and dousing himself in petrol
The accused was taken to hospital where he was charged with 20 offences.
Four counts each of enter premises and commit wilful damage, and one count each of dangerous operation of a vehicle, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and obstruct police were among the offences.
He was not present when the matter was mentioned before Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
His defence lawyer Luke Bull told the court his client had not applied for bail and requested the matter to be adjourned.
He is expected to next appear before court on August 6.
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