Winch man’s impersonating police charges dropped
A WINCHELSEA man has for the second time fronted court accused of impersonating a police officer.
Zoran Spiranovic, 52, looked likely to be jailed until two key charges were dropped yesterday.
Werribee Magistrates’ Court heard Spiranovic told cops “you’re not going to like what I’ve been doing” when he was pulled over for driving erratically on the Princes Freeway in Little River on December 30 last year.
A search of his car revealed red and blue lights, a radar detector, police radio, a lanyard and sergeants’ epaulets.
An imitation firearm, another radio and a Victoria Police uniform belt were later found inside a caravan during a search at his property.
He was originally charged with impersonating a police officer, drug possession, handling stolen goods and possessing an imitation firearm, but the magistrate yesterday struck out the first two charges as part of an agreement with Mr Spiranovic’s lawyer and the prosecution.
The court heard the Victoria Police property had been left in Spiranovic’s car by a friend who was a police officer.
Magistrate Therese McCarthy said there could be serious repercussions if police items were to “fall into the wrong hands”.
Spiranovic’s lawyer said his client had faced some health challenges around the time of offending, having suffered two heart attacks in the past year, including one just eight months ago.
He had also been diagnosed with bowel cancer two years ago and struck by a family tragedy when his stepson took his life.
Ms McCarthy said Spiranovic had “substantially lived as a good citizen” and a jail term would not be appropriate under the circumstances.
She sentenced Spiranovic to an 18-month community corrections order, including 100 hours of unpaid work and mental health treatment.
In an unrelated incident last year, men posing as police officers and holding fake badges tried to pull over a young woman in Hamlyn Heights.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, locked herself in the car and called police after she was pulled over by two men in high-vis vests while she was driving alone along Church St last June.