Police use drones to track down ex-Bandido
A MESSAGE that “coppers are going to die today” – allegedly sent by one of Queensland’s most notorious and recognisable former bikies – was the trigger for heavily armed police to storm an Airbnb property in Western Australia.
Brett Sole Pechey, who calls himself “Kaos”, was swooped on by the tactical response group and gang crime squad detectives in Perth’s east on Friday morning after the alarming threat, and accompanying vision of a shotgun, emerged.
Once dubbed Queensland’s most wanted man, Pechey, 33, was tracked down to a shortterm rental on Frederick St with the help of police drones and an exhaustive house-tohouse search.
Police also allegedly discovered a sawn-off shotgun in a white Holden Commodore down the road, being driven by Adam James Iustini – one of Pechey’s associates.
After his surrender last week, the heavily tattooed former Bandidos bikie gang leader briefly appeared in Northbridge Magistrates Court on charges including threats to kill and aggravated possession of a weapon, possession of stolen property and breaching a police order.
Pechey, who has been on the run from Queensland Police Service since December 2018 – has been laying low in Perth for the past 14 months.
The warrant came after Pechey failed to attend Southport Magistrates Court, where he still faces a number of charges including serious assault of a police officer and commit public nuisance.
A spokesman for the court said the situation was “quite iffy” – referring to the lengthy period over which the charges had now been before the courts.
The unresolved charges stem from an alleged threehour stand-off between Pechey and more than 26 police officers at a Gold Coast home in March 2018.
Neither Pechey nor Iustini, applied for bail and will face court again in coming weeks.