Back in jail for car-related crimes
A man who made headlines for taking a police car on a 270km joyride is back behind bars after only a few weeks of freedom.
Jesse Daniel Nash, 43, served every day of a five-year sentence following a 2020 incident in which he pointed a firearm at a police officer in Central Otago before embarking on a wild journey through the region.
He was released from the Otago Corrections Facility in December, but his time on the outside was short-lived.
On January 31, there was a co-ordinated burglary of a Mosgiel car yard in the early hours of the morning in which five vehicles and various car parts were stolen.
One of those vehicles was a grey Audi A3.
Two days later, Nash was captured on CCTV at a Dunedin petrol station filling up with $168 of fuel and driving off without paying.
Over the next fortnight, the defendant repeated the act five more times, ripping off service stations in Dunedin and Mataura for more than $1000.
"He must've been doing a fair amount of driving," Crown prosecutor Craig Power suggested.
On February 10, police found the Audi in Belleknowes complete with false registration plates and a new paint job.
Inside were two women.
Nash had "run off", they told officers, but it did not take much sleuthing to prove he had been behind the wheel.
Inside the vehicle was the defendant's wallet, containing his driver's licence, as well as court and Probation documents addressed to him.
It was not the first time Nash had shown off his elusiveness.
During the 2020 escapade, the defendant travelled from the Cromwell Gorge to Milton before his vehicle was spiked by police.
While it stopped the prolonged pursuit, Nash gave officers the slip and spent the night hiding in an unoccupied property.
He was arrested the following morning when he tried to organise someone to pick him up.
Judge Emma Smith said Nash's previous convictions were "particularly bad".
But the man said he wanted to put his crimes behind him.
"I want to get out of the system," he said.
"I want to grow up and be a man."
Nash had previously been jailed for six months for the petrol thefts; Judge Smith added another six months for receiving the stolen vehicle.
rob.kidd@odt.co.nz
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