IT was a crime spree that lasted the best part of two months, spanned thousands of kilometres, included five armed robberies, four police pursuits, four break and enters, three stabbings and ended on the roof of a Tighes Hill townhouse after a 17-hour siege.
At least eight separate police commands or specialist squads were after Ricky Lee Kincheila at the height of his crime wave in March, 2017.
And on Wednesday, Kincheila, 28, of Wallsend, appeared in Newcastle Local Court via audio visual link from jail where he pleaded guilty to 18 offences, including armed robberies at Mayfield, Shortland and Sandgate and a triple-stabbing at a Brookvale gym.
Another 11 offences will be taken into account when Kincheila is sentenced in Newcastle District Court later this year.
Kincheila’s crime wave began one night in late January, 2017, when he attempted to carjack three motorists, including a taxi driver, at Mayfield over a period of about four hours.
Police were called, but Kincheila had disappeared.
He re-emerged in early March on the mid-north coast; stealing fuel from service stations at South Grafton and Macksville, breaking into a McDonald’s at Nambucca Heads, stealing a car at Kempsey and leading police on pursuits at Clybucca and Collombatti.
He stole a car at Glendale on March 15 and the next day broke into a gym at East Maitland.
At 3pm on March 20, Kincheila stole then Australia Rugby Union chief executive Bill Pulver’s $200,000 BMW M4 from a car wash at St Leonards, in the lower-north shore of Sydney.
His crime spree was ramping up, reaching a crescendo.
Kincheila was “extremely agitated and aggressive” when he walked into Vision gym on Pittwater Road at 8pm and saw four men working out with a trainer.
He punched one man in the head and then stabbed three others, one in the neck and the other two in the arms. He fled outside to the stolen BMW and headed north to Newcastle.
He arrived at Shortland at 9.45pm and used a knife to hold up a Metro service station attendant, making off with $600 and a toy bear.
Less than 15 minutes later Kincheila had struck again, this time holding up the Mobile service station at Sandgate.
He was spotted driving erratically at Mayfield a short time later but disappeared into the night. At 9am the next day Kincheila was spotted by police at Hamilton.
He fled back to a townhouse at Tighes Hill, but climbed onto the roof when police arrived. Unwilling to give himself up, he spent the next 17 hours perched on the roof until police stormed the townhouse and finally took him into custody.
