Two men who ram raided the Fyshwick Harvey Norman store in July last year, one of whom was tasered by police while trying to escape arrest, will spend the next few years in prison.
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Lee Bennett, 39, and Dean Anthony Simonds, 38, were sentenced to five and three years in prison respectively on Wednesday, for their roles in the brazen attack.
Court documents reveal that in the early hours of July 29 last year, Bennett broke into the Kambah ACT government depot and stole a white Ford Ranger and a number of other items including five Apple iPads and a television.
Bennett also caused considerable damage to the depot and several vehicles parked there. He made his escape in the Ford Ranger, which would ultimately lead to his downfall as it was equipped with GPS tracking.
Bennett drove to Simonds' house in Phillip where the pair stashed the stolen items before they drove to Harvey Norman in Fyshwick.
One of the men drove the Ranger into one of the store's walls, which caused $33,000 worth of damage, and they gained entry to Harvey Norman and proceeded to steal about $14,000 worth of electrical goods.
Making off with the laptops, keyboards, iPods and other assorted items in the back of the ute, Bennett and Simonds headed to Lyons where, after a stop at Bennett's home, they broke into an underground car park and stole numerous items from several cars.
The items included personal belongings, baby nappies, moisturiser, a dummy and three bottles of Coke Zero.
Later that morning, Bennett attempted to sell the stolen goods via text message. One message to a contact read, "Bruv ya missed out, I went and got Harvey's last night. Got like six lappys. We got a decent chunk, probably sell and get about 3K each."
After driving away from a petrol station without paying for $118 worth of fuel, Simonds drove the stolen Ford Ranger to Rivett. Police officers, following the GPS signal, attended the location and found the ute partially hidden under a tarpaulin.
The officers waited and watched the vehicle and soon after saw Simonds returning to the ute. When confronted by the officers Simonds attempted to flee the scene in the Ranger.
One of the officers smashed the driver's window with a baton to stop Simonds escaping. Simonds called out, "I'm not going back, I'm not going back", before reaching into his pocket.
The officer pulled his gun and said, "Don't do it Dean. I'll f---ing shoot you."
Simonds then fled from the vehicle and ran into the courtyard of a nearby unit. Police surrounded the courtyard and, while Simonds attempted to climb the fence, one officer Tasered him and placed him under arrest.
Police later arrested Bennett at his home where they located him hiding under a mattress.
Bennett and Simonds both pleaded guilty to a range of offences including aggravated burglary, theft and property damage and both men received a sentence reduction for their early pleas.
Defence barrister for Simonds, Jason Moffett, told the court his client's offending was a consequence of a drug addiction which, if he could beat, he could be successfully be rehabilitated.
Mr Moffett secured a drug treatment order for Simonds, which meant his sentence of three years and six months in prison would only take effect if he was found ineligible for the program by the Drug and Alcohol Court.
Bennett's sentence of five years imprisonment has a non-parole period of two years and six months ending in 2022.