Stolen Essential Energy truck crashed in highway cop chase

A WOMAN stole an Essential Energy truck at Ballina, intending to sell the truck in Queensland, before she got into a police chase, tried to dodge road spikes and crashed the vehicle.

Josephine Terese Macreadie

has faced Byron Bay Court after the wild chain of events on November 4 last year,

An Essential Energy electrician was working on the nature strip of Treelands Crescent and Moon St in Ballina.

He left the truck unlocked and the keys on the driver’s seat, police documents state.

Macreadie hopped into the truck while the driver was not looking and took off onto the Pacific Highway, heading toward Bangalow Rd bridge.

Police set up road spikes near Yelgun after they spotted the truck speeding north on the highway.

Macreadie spotted the spikes and “suddenly veered to the left to avoid them and lost control of the vehicle causing it to crash into the safety barrier,” police documents state.

She provided a fake name and address when she was arrested and told police she intended to sell the truck in Queensland for the money.

“Her eyes were watery, her face was flushed and she had ulcers in her mouth,” police wrote.

“She was rocking and very fidgety with her arms and hands.”

Macreadie told police at the time that she was on an intensive corrections order “for this sort of thing already”. Magistrate Karen Stafford granted Macreadie supervised bail when she appeared on Tuesday.

Macreadie must live at Miruma and was ordered not to consume drugs or alcohol.

The case was adjourned to March 21 for sentencing.