Teen stole from cop car: court

STEALING Queensland Police Service property from a cop car parked outside the Hume St police station was not the brightest thing this drunken teenager could do.

Cory Fenton Donald Jago had been walking with mates on Hume St about 3.45am, March 4, when he came upon the police car, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

Opening an unlocked door, the 19-year-old got inside the police vehicle and removed a QPS iPad, case and a keyboard belonging to a constable.

CCTV footage of the incident showed the teenager then walking off on Hume St holding the stolen booty up to his mates, police prosecutor Natalie Bugden told the court.

Police tracked the iPad by GPS and located it covered with a liquid substance in nearby Queens Park, Sergeant Bugden said.

Police found Jago and a friend who was a witness to the incident who told officers the 19-year-old had submerged the device in the creek in order to prevent it from being tracked, she said.

Jago pleaded guilty to the offences.

His solicitor David Meara told the court his client offered no excuse for his behaviour but he had been out drinking alcohol with friends that night.

When his client heard police were looking for him in regard to the incident, he had gone to the police station and made full admissions, he said.

Because the teenager had a similar incident some months ago he had since sought help for his alcohol consumption, Mr Meara said.

Describing the offence as “an act of gross stupidity”, Magistrate Damian Carroll fined Jago $1250 and ordered he make restitution of $1160.