Ex-Pullman on the Park Melbourne chef Paul Smith jailed for multi-state car chase
Award-winning chef is jailed for a terrifying cross-border car chase that ended with police handcuffing him in the dust – only for the arresting officer to wave him a kind gesture
- Award-winning chef Paul Smith jailed for police pursuit
- He led police on a multi-state chase in a stolen car in July 2022
An award-winning chef has been convicted of leading the police force on a multi-state wild chase in a stolen vehicle.
Paul Smith, a former decorated chef for global hotel giant Accor in Melbourne, was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison for the terrifying chase that stretched from Victoria to South Australia.
Smith stole the vehicle on July 5, 2022 in Mildura, northwest Victoria.
A short time later, the police gave chase, setting off a terrifying chain of events.
The chase crossed the border into Morphett Vale, in southern Adelaide, before continuing through the Adelaide Hills where police set up tire spikes to slow the car in Longwood.
Undeterred, Smith continued, even ramming through a police car in Bridgewater, an Adelaide Hills suburb.
He was eventually cornered, stopped and dragged out of the stolen car on South Australia’s South Eastern Freeway – over 300 km from where the chase began.
In a strange but friendly turn of events, one of the arresting officers helped Smith get a cigarette after he was handcuffed and sat down on the side of the road.
Former award-winning chef Paul Smith (second from right) has been convicted of leading police on a multi-state wild chase in a stolen vehicle
Smith won awards as a chef at Pullman on the Park in Melbourne’s CBD, the Accor Group hotel.
He won Victoria’s 2015 Accor Employee of the Year, where he was described by the company as “extremely persistent.”
At Smith’s sentencing on Wednesday, Chief Judge Mary-Louise Hribal described his driving as “extremely dangerous,” putting “members of the public and police at risk of serious injury and death.”
“You hadn’t thought much of them… you deliberately ran into the side of a police car while accelerating and forcibly pushed the vehicle out of the way,” Chief Judge Hribel said.
The court heard that Smith had a long criminal history and was addicted to both meth and cannabis.
Smith was sentenced to one year and nine months behind bars with a non-parole period of 14 months
Victoria Police are seeking Smith for outstanding warrants and he will be extradited to Victoria at the end of his sentence.
Smith (pictured) has been sentenced to one year and nine months behind bars with a non-parole period of 14 months and will be extradited to Victoria at the end of his sentence on outstanding warrants