Yass man, driver refused bail charged with shooting at police

UPDATE: Two men who allegedly shot at police and held a motorist and his teenage son at gunpoint at Yass Service Centre yesterday will spend another night behind bars after appearing in Goulburn Local Court today.

One of the alleged offenders is from Yass.

Kane McDowall, 23, and Eden man Timothy Ronald Clynch, 23, have been charged with a string of offences in relation to the dramatic police pursuit which started in Gundagai at about 2am.

Clynch, who police allege was the driver at the time, applied for bail today on the basis he needed treatment for methamphetamine (ice) addiction. Bail was refused.

McDowall did not apply for bail.

They face a string of charges including shooting with intent to murder, aggravated break and enter with intent to commit a serious indictable offence, driving or riding in a vehicle without consent, resisting police, possessing and using an unauthorised prohibited firearm, assault with intent to take a vehicle, and using an offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention.

McDowall has an additional charge of assault causing actual bodily harm.

Neither have entered pleas to the charges.

The police statement of facts said the pair shot and hit a police car with a 20-guage shotgun during a two-hour pursuit on the Hume Highway.

They initially came to the attention of police who were responding to a burglary at a Gundagai shop.

Their vehicle stopped at the Yass Service Centre after the deployment of road spikes.

There the men allegedly forced a driver and his 14-year-old son out of another vehicle at the service centre.

Both men were arrested and taken to Yass Police Station at about 3.40am.

Magistrate Caroline Huntsman, who also presides over Yass Local Court, said the charges carry maximum penalties ranging from five to 25 years imprisonment.

Both will reappear in court via audio visual link on Wednesday.

Police have previously reported both men were from the ACT.

Read yesterday’s story here.