An Instagram model and aspiring actor has been arrested by elite strike force police who target outlaw motorcycle gangs – just months after she was released on bail for a string of crimes.
Monique Marina Agostino was convicted of multiple charges after the glamorous 24-year-old helped rob four Sydney shops in under an hour in November 2018.
She had been appealing the severity of her 18-month sentence and was released on bail but allegedly breached her conditions – sparking a police search to apprehend her.
Monique Marina Agostino was convicted of multiple charges stemming from a crime spree in which the glamorous 24-year-old helped rob four Sydney shops in November 2018
Instagram model Monique Marina Agostino, 24, charged with a series of burglaries, outside court in February 2019 after skipping her first court date
Strike Force Raptor officers swooped and arrested Agostino at Harris Park on Wednesday afternoon, according to News Corp.
As well as the outstanding arrest warrant, police also charged the former Northern Beaches schoolgirl with being possession of allegedly stolen goods.
Agostino, a single mother, grew up in the Sydney suburb of Belrose and attended Killarney Heights High School before briefly working at a real-estate agency in Manly.
She was sentenced in 2019 to 18 months in in jail for the break-and-enter robberies on cafes and convenience stores.
She was also sentenced on a second separate spate of charges for crimes committed at Blacktown Westfield Shopping Centre in May 2019.
Those charges were for offences including possessing three diazepam tablets – a restricted benzodiazepine once known as Valium, possessing the prohibited drug ice, possessing a knife in Target, and stealing a $90 jacket from budget clothing retailer Supré.
Her appeal was scheduled to be heard at Downing Centre court on July 22.
Police had circulated an image of Agostino on Tuesday saying they were looking for her for allegedly breaching her bail conditions.
At about 1pm on Wednesday officers from the elite bikie-busting squad stopped the car she was driving in Sydney’s west.
Officers allegedly found prescriptions, property, and identification documents that were stolen.
She was charged with three counts of goods suspected stolen in/on premises (not motor vehicle) at Parramatta Police station.
Agostino was on Wednesday refused bail to appear in Parramatta Local Court on Thursday
The single mother allegedly went on a burglary spree in November 2018, targeting several cafes and convenience stores across Sydney’s northern beaches
In her previous court appearance for sentencing in 2019, Agostino represented herself after her former barrister, Bronwyn Pullinger withdrew from the case.
Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge sentenced Agostino on more than 10 separate charges, with the sentences to be served concurrently.
The longest term she received was 24 months in prison, with a non-parole period of 18 months.
Agostino told magistrate Jacqueline Milledge at the time it would be her fault if she harmed herself behind bars.
‘It’s your fault. I’ve been suicidal in the past,’ Agostino said, according to news.com.au.
Agostino was told she could apply for bail through the Supreme Court and enter drug rehabilitation – to which the mother responded ‘I don’t need drug rehab’.
‘You do what you want to do because clearly all the choice you have been making are working for you,’ Ms Milledge replied.
Agostino defence was that she had only half a gram of the drug on her and the knife was a wire-cutting Stanley knife she had found while cleaning her car.
The court previously heard how Agostino drove a number of teenage boys wearing black masks to the shops where they jemmied open the doors using a chisel.
While Police prosecutor John Sharpin told the court Agostino did not break into the premises herself but was nearby in her car and knew the accused people.
Agostino was sentenced in 2019 to 18 months in jail for the break-and-enter robberies on cafes and convenience stores
The whirlwind crime spree erupted in the early hours of November 6 last year when security camera footage showed a person trying to break in to a business, dressed in black with their face covered.
Three premises were broken into within six minutes.
At 1.52am, the Pound and Pizza restaurant in Tramore Place, Killarney Heights was broken into and a Samsung Galaxy mobile phone stolen.
Two minutes later, they tried to break in to the House of Fruit convenience store.
Two minutes after that, they hit the nearby Le Parisien Café.
They then drove 15km to the upper north shore suburb of St Ives where they broke into the Stanley Street Café at 2.48am, less than an hour after their first attack.
A credit card and $300 were stolen from the Stanley Street Cafe and Agostino used the card to buy $11.55 worth of McDonald’s in Brookvale.
Less than three weeks later, Agostino was again involved in a burglary, breaking in to the Forestville Bakery where $1000 was stolen.
She also received separate jail terms of two months apiece in 2019 for a series of bail offences for failing to appear in court.
In her previous court appearance for sentencing in 2019, Agostino represented herself after her former barrister, Bronwyn Pullinger withdrew from the case