Kyle Egan, 31, of Shepparton, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to charges of assaulting an emergency worker on duty, threatening to inflict serious injury, intentionally damaging property, affray, driving in a dangerous manner and possessing a silencer while a prohibited person.
He is also charged with driving without a front P-plate displayed, two counts of failing to answer bail, not displaying number plates, using an unregistered vehicle and drug driving.
The court heard police went to a Weddell St house shortly before 2pm on October 3 to arrest Egan, who had multiple warrants out on him for failing to appear in court.
On arrival, police found Egan had climbed into the roof cavity.
Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Carita Thompson said one of the officers climbed into the roof cavity, and while there, Egan rushed towards police “in an aggressive manner with his arms raised”.
Believing he would be hit by Egan, the officer dropped out of the roof cavity through the manhole and on to the floor below, hurting his back in the process.
A large number of police attended the siege, and officers had to negotiate with Egan for three hours before he was arrested.
After his arrest, he told police he had climbed into the ceiling because he had “seen police coming” and “didn’t know what to do”.
In a separate incident, on February 14, police were called to a Mooroopna house where Egan was having an argument with a woman.
During the argument, he threw a vacuum cleaner at the wall, before leaving.
On his way from the property, he stopped in the middle of the road and abused police who had been called, before then driving in the middle of the road towards a police car, which had to take evasive action to avoid being hit by him.
The court heard that on yet another occasion, police found a silencer in a parcel addressed to Egan during a search of his home under the Firearms Act on August 10 last year.
He was a person who was prohibited from owning guns.
When he was arrested, Egan told police he bought the silencer online for $20 off Temu “because he always purchases random things online, and it looks cool”, Leading Sen Constable Thompson said.
Five days before that, Egan had been involved in an affray with several other people at 2am in a Ballarat bar.
At yet another time, on July 5 last year, Egan tested positive to methamphetamines while driving in Wyndham St, Shepparton, was using the wrong number plates on his car — which he told police were off another of his vehicles — and the registration was expired.
Egan’s solicitor, Shana McDonald, told the court her client had been bailed in February and had been “engaging well” with court services but started to disengage when his father died in March.
She also told the court her client had “experienced some disadvantage in his life”, but that his criminal history had been “fairly limited” in the past seven years after the birth of his first child.
In relation to the silencer, Ms McDonald said such items could be purchased cheaply online.
She also said no other firearms were found during the search on Egan’s home.
Magistrate Olivia Trumble ordered Egan be assessed for a justice plan.
“If he’s eligible, I want him to have a community corrections order on a justice plan,” she said.
His matter will return to court in December.
Meanwhile, Egan will remain on bail as part of the Court Integrated Services Program.
As part of his bail, he also has to report to police once a week.
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