A suspected sovereign citizen has been arrested after allegedly driving a ute at officers before ramming it into a country NSW police station.
The incident occurred on Friday afternoon as police were about to give one of their own a send-off after 40 years on the force.
A march for retiring Detective Senior Constable Scott Whale was interrupted when Donny Hobbs, 67, allegedly drove towards patrolling officers before smashing into Mudgee police station at 1.30pm.
As soon as the white Land Cruiser came to a stop, police took Hobbs into custody.
He has been charged with destroy or damage property with intent to endanger life and two counts of using an offensive weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence.
Hobbs is also charged with police pursuit – not stop – drive dangerously, driving recklessly or dangerously, and custody of a knife in a public place.
The first charge could see Hobbs serve up to 25 years behind bars if convicted.
‘[The ute] smashed the whole front wall of the police station, cops came running out everywhere, pulling up everywhere,’ witness Kirtis Goldsmith told Nine News.
A march for retiring Detective Senior Constable Scott Whale was interrupted when Donny Hobbs, 67, allegedly drove towards patrolling officers before smashing into a police station
Pictured is the ute that smashed into Mudgee police station on Friday afternoon
A march for retiring Detective Senior Constable Scott Whale (pictured) was interrupted by a man he had previously dealt with
The incident happened about 1.30pm on Friday
A man identified only as Michael said he was sitting inside the police station when the ute hit the building.
‘One of the constables grabbed the spikes as I came through the building. I was sitting on the chairs,’ he said. ‘I was lucky I was sitting there, I only got a bit of a scratch. I got it all checked out, I was all clear.’
Police will investigate whether Hobbs allegedly targeted Detective Senior Constable Whale’s march as he celebrated his last day as a police officer.
Detective Senior Constable Whale had lived in Mudgee for the past three years, working for the rural crime prevention team.
Police will allege Hobbs had several previous dealings with the detective. They claim his behaviour was consistent with that of a ‘sovereign citizen’, 9News reports.
A NSW Police spokesman said no one was injured during the incident.
