A New South Wales man has been charged with a litany of offences after allegedly driving at up to 168km/h with an unrestrained seven-month-old baby in the front seat and meth in his system.
According to the NSW Police Force’s Traffic and Highway Patrol Command Facebook page, officers first detected the speeding driver at 9:30pm on Tuesday (August 5) this week.
The 35-year-old man was allegedly travelling south on the Hume Highway through Blair Athol in a sedan at 168km/h, or 58km/h over the speed limit.
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Image credit: NSW Police Force Traffic and Highway Patrol Command
Officers initiated a pursuit, before terminating it “a short time later” due to safety concerns. They located the vehicle at a service station at Sally’s Corner shortly thereafter, and again a pursuit was initiated.
The vehicle finally stopped at a service station in Goulburn, but when officers approached the car the driver allegedly locked himself inside the vehicle and refused to open his door.
On the front passenger seat was an allegedly unrestrained seven-month-old baby “known to the man”.
Officers smashed the driver’s side window and arrested him, while the baby – who was uninjured – was taken to Goulburn Base Hospital for monitoring before being returned to his family’s care.
Image credit: NSW Police Force Traffic and Highway Patrol Command
While the man returned a negative result to a roadside breath test, he allegedly returned a positive result to a roadside drug test.
Upon being taken to Goulburn Police Station, he allegedly tested positive to methamphetamine. This has been sent away for secondary testing.
He’s been charged with ‘police pursuit-not stop-drive at speed’, as well as not complying with directions given by a police officer, and driving with a passenger seatbelt or restraint not properly fastened. He’s also facing a common assault (domestic violence) charge relating to an alleged incident earlier that night.
He’s been granted conditional bail to appear in Goulburn Local Court on Tuesday, August 26.