A masked burglar fired a shortened shotgun out of a stolen car after saying “they call me Uncle Big Mac” as part of a month-long crime spree.
In footage played to the ACT Supreme Court last week, Jacob Riveros, 21, laughs after shooting and proclaims: “That’s how we do this.”
Riveros previously pleaded guilty to three counts of driving a motor vehicle without consent, as well as single charges of unauthorised possession or use of a firearm, burglary, arson, and aggravated dangerous driving.
Agreed facts state Riveros was involved in the theft of several cars during the spree with co-offenders Benjamin Quirk-Buckley and Jack Brian Cant.
The offences were filmed by the men in a series of videos spanning the month of July 2022.
In one video, Riveros can be seen inside a stolen Ford Focus. In the footage a voice is recorded saying “hocus pocus, get out the focus”.
A still from footage showing Jacob Riveros shooting out of a stolen car. Picture supplied
About 12am on July 2, 2022, Riveros was filmed in the driver’s seat of the stolen Ford, wearing a black balaclava, and holding a shortened double-barreled shotgun.
Riveros says “they call me Uncle Big Mac”, before pointing the gun out the window and firing twice.
He then says: “That’s how we do this”.
Later that day, Riveros was filmed striking the car with “pole-like objects” while it was on fire, the facts state.
Riveros and one of the other offenders is recorded saying: “There’s a nice profile picture to get, I’ve got the photo, on fire with the brothers, I can feel the heat from here.”
The burnt out shell of the car was found by police on Angle Crossing Road.
On July 4, Riveros and the other men are also said to have stolen a set of keys, $1500 cash, a watch, prescription glasses, an iPad, and a black Audi A5 from a home in Monash.
The next day police saw Riveros driving the stolen Audi.
When officers tried to overtake the car, Riveros veered suddenly into the right-hand lane and blocked the police vehicle.
He then swerved back and forth before conducting a u-turn and speeding off.
Court documents state that on July 18, Cant and Quirk-Buckley stole an Audi RS4 and two French bulldogs, named Prince and Pricilla, from a home in Garran.
Cant was filmed with one of the stolen dogs in his lap saying: “This 10-grand French bulldog is now a hostage”.
Riveros was later videoed while driving the stolen car, and is not charged in relation to stealing the bulldogs.
Police have since found the animals and returned them to their owner.
In court, Riveros’ lawyer, James McGuire, said the gun was fired near a nature reserve, not in a busy area.
“The agreed facts tend to suggest that the setting in which my client found himself when he discharged that firearm was remote,” Mr McGuire stated.
“There was a dirt road visible. That would lead credence to the assertion that there was just nobody around.
“It would be a grave matter if it was in an urban area.”
Mr McGuire urged the court to consider a drug and alcohol treatment order when sentencing his client.
“[Riveros] was given drugs by his family at a very young age,” he said.
Prosecutor Caitlin Diggins told the court that while the Ford wasn’t moving when the shots were fired, the vehicle was turned on.
She said “rehabilitation does loom large” in sentencing Riveros but it was also important he received adequate punishment.
Chief Justice Lucy McCallum is set to hand down her sentence for Riveros on October 13.
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Hannah is a reporter with The Canberra Times. She is currently covering ACT courts. Hannah started as a journalist with The Southern Highland News and The Goulburn Post before moving to the ACT. Twitter: @neale_hannah
Hannah is a reporter with The Canberra Times. She is currently covering ACT courts. Hannah started as a journalist with The Southern Highland News and The Goulburn Post before moving to the ACT. Twitter: @neale_hannah
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