The six-month manhunt for the man spanned the Western and Northern NSW Police Districts, before ending with the arrest in the Coffs-Clarence Police District. 

Investigations led the police to search an address in Yamba on Wednesday, August 19, where the accused was then arrested. 

“Police while searching the premises saw some movement on the freezer door, moved to the area and located him curled up inside the freezer,” Coffs-Clarence Police District Inspector Inspector Milner said.

“When people are desperate, they’ll hide anywhere,” Inspector Milner said.

The 28-year-old man, who was wanted on four warrants for crimes committed in the Orana Mid-Western Police District, was also a most wanted target of Operation Roam. 

Following his arrest he was charged with 10 offences at Grafton Police Station.

The offences included aggravated break and enter, stealing a firearm and three vehicles, predatory driving, driving recklessly and not stopping during police pursuit.

Police allege the accused, with another male, stole a Holden Rodeo from a Dubbo address on February 23 and used the vehicle to drive to Armatree NSW. Police allege he committed a break and enter stealing offence on a business in the remote town.

They also allege he drove the stolen vehicle to a rural property in Gullargambone and stole fuel to continue driving. The accused and co-accused attended a second rural property stealing a Nissan patrol.

Witnesses followed the stolen patrol, before the accused rammed their vehicle, disabling it. A second witness began following the accused before his vehicle was also rammed which prevented him from continuing to drive. The witness suffered significant injuries to his neck and vertebrae. 

Police allege the actions of the accused placed members of the public in significant danger.

Police also allege the men set the two stolen vehicles alight and stole a third vehicle, a Toyota Avalon, from a rural property.

The avalon was sighted by police in Dubbo where a number of pursuits were initiated but terminated due to the heightened risk to the community because of the way the accused was driving. 

The stolen avalon was recovered by police on February 24 when they also seized a number of items relating to the magnitude of the offences. Orana Mid-Western Detectives executed a search warrant at a Gloucester Street address and found further items relevant to the offences.

Orana Mid-Western Police District detectives continued to investigate the whereabouts of the man after possible sightings were reported in Northern Police Districts. Detectives liaised with their counterparts in Grafton, after the extensive time the man had avoided police detection.

He was refused bail and is due to appear at Grafton Local Court on September 3.