Man caught sneaking car across border on tow truck, while he walked
A Brisbane man, who drove to Wollongong to rekindle a relationship with a former partner, has been caught re-entering Queensland on foot and trying to have his car towed through a Gold Coast border checkpoint.
The 51-year-old was stopped at the M1 border checkpoint on Saturday night and was told by officers that he could not re-enter the state unless he arrived by air and then spent 14 days in hotel quarantine.
Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said the man had driven from Wollongong, south of Sydney.
āHeās come directly from a hotspot,ā he said. āHe was warned that if he attempted to gain entry from another checkpoint he would be identified and he would be fined.ā
Police said the man called a tow truck company which transported his vehicle into Queensland on Saturday via the Griffith Street checkpoint at Coolangatta.
āOne of our vigilant and diligent police officers saw the vehicle and just decided to do a registration check on it and of course we had flagged that vehicle,ā Chief Superintendent Wheeler said.
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āThe vehicle was dropped off to an address at Tugun and that person was located there, so he had walked across the border. āHe told police heād gone down there to rekindle a relationship and heās blatantly breached the Chief Health Officerās direction.ā
The man was handed a $4,003 infringement notice and ordered into 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine at a cost of $2,800.
Queensland Police said the tow truck company that transported the manās vehicle had done nothing wrong.
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Chief Superintendent Wheeler said police were aware that someone may try and use a tow truck to get their vehicle through a checkpoint.
āItās not something we havenāt thought of before, we have done checks before,ā he said.
āTo my knowledge, this is the first time we have identified the vehicle and been able to match it up with the driver.
āIām not surprised really at anything, but it doesnāt really help the cause when people are blatantly breaching the Chief Health officerās directions.ā
The latest border infringement comes one week after 43-year-old Brisbane man was caught trying to re-enter Queensland after driving to Tweed Heads to buy a fishing rod.
The man was handed a $4,003 infringement notice and will be forced to spend 14 days in quarantine on his return to Queensland.
ā ABC / Tom Forbes and Nicole Dyer
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