Brady Cox, 32, of Berrigan, pleaded guilty in the County Court to two counts of aggravated offence of recklessly exposing an emergency services worker to risk by driving, three counts of theft, attempted theft, handling stolen goods and possessing drugs.
He also pleaded guilty to three summary charges of failing to stop on police request.
The court heard police spotted Cox sleeping in the driver’s seat of a stolen Ford sedan at a service station at Cobram on 4am on May 28.
When Cox woke up, police had parked in front and behind his car, blocking him in.
The court heard he first drove forward and rammed the car in front, before reversing and ramming the side of the police car behind him, before driving off.
Three police officers who were out of the cars at the time had to take evasive action to avoid being hit.
One of the police vehicles pursued him along Murray Valley Hwy, before Cox stopped and again rammed the police vehicle which had stopped 30m to 40m behind him.
The pursuit continued before police found the car abandoned a short time later near Yarroweyah.
Cox then stole a Mazda Bravo ute about 7am from a Yarroweyah house and was picked up by police later at a Numurkah house.
The court heard Cox had stolen the Ford sedan involved in the rammings at Burramine eight days earlier, after police pulled the vehicle over.
While the driver was talking to police, Cox moved from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat and drove off in the vehicle.
He also stole $101.48 worth of fuel from a Strathmerton service station on May 27.
The court was told Cox also drove off on police at 85-90km/h when they tried to stop him in Shepparton on April 1.
He also passed an unmarked police car at 140km/h in a 100km/h zone on Murray Valley Hwy at Cobram on April 30, before continuing to drive at the same speed and weave in and out of traffic as he approached the 80km/h zone at Cobram.
In sentencing Cox, Judge Sarah Dawes said it was “unacceptable” that Cox had placed police members at risk.
“It’s most fortunate no-one suffered any injury by your behaviour,” she said.
Judge Dawes noted Cox’s memory of the incident was “limited” as he was affected by methamphetamines — and was using two grams a day of the drug at that time.
She said Cox had a “lengthy history of illicit substance abuse”, including starting to use marijuana before he was a teenager, amphetamines and ecstasy at 14 and methamphetamine at 17.
Judge Dawes also noted Cox was on parole at the time on a charge of assault with intent to steal a vehicle in NSW, and that NSW may seek to extradite him to serve out the sentence there after he’d served his Victorian sentence for this matter.
She also took into account the fact Cox was a passenger in a four-wheel drive buggy where another person died when he was 13, as well as being on a motorbike where the driver suffered a serious injury.
He has also has persistent depressive disorder and substance abuse disorder.
Cox was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison, with a non-parole period of one year and 10 months.
His pre-sentence detention of 182 days was reckoned as time already served.
He was also disqualified from driving for three years.