Wild taxi ride to prison

Down and out father gives cops the bird

A FORMER business owner who is now homeless stole a taxi from Apollo Bay before leading police on a wild chase.

Karl Kallasmae, 40, was jailed for six months after pleading guilty to various charges in Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Among his rap sheet were multiple car thefts, stealing from shops and reckless conduct endangering life.

One of the father’s most brazen acts was on July 15 when he stole a taxi from a driveway in Apollo Bay and sped away to Portland, reaching speeds of up to 200km/h.

Police called off a pursuit near Portland after Kallasmae flipped his middle finger at them and sped off.

It came just three days after he stole a Holden Rodeo ute from a home in Broadmeadows and fled after colliding with another car.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable David Vanderpol said Kallasmae’s crime spree continued in September when he targeted the Myer department store in Geelong six times in less than a month.

The serial thief then turned his attention to Myer in Frankston, stealing thousands of dollars worth of items within a week. Among his haul were bras, dresses and quilt cover sets.

Lawyer Adrian Paull said Kallasmae previously led a stable life — including running a business and owning a home — until a relationship breakdown in 2012. Mr Paull said the former Leopold man was a diagnosed schizophrenic, suffered hallucinations and started taking drugs when he was 14.

“A lot of these thefts are partly to fuel his drug addiction, but they’re also so he could send things to his partner and gifts to his children living interstate,” Mr Paull said.

He said Kallasmae was “sick of jail” but acknowledged a prison term was likely.

Magistrate Michael Coghlan said the driving offences were the most serious charges, but reduced Kallasmae’s sentence due to his mental health issues.

“For these sort of driving matters alone, I’ll ordinarily sentence people to about six months (jail), but for you it will be four months,” he said.

“You’re continuing to use drugs but don’t appreciate that is making your illness worse and is contributing to your offending behaviour.”

With time already served, Kallasmae will be due for release in mid-April. He was also disqualified from driving for two years.