Maroochydore District Court heard Jarred Taylor Strafford, 21, and Dean Robert Richards, 24, were trying to evade police during a crime spree in June 2019, when they saw the Blue Care van parked on the side of the road.
As the driver was helping another client out, Strafford kicked him in the chest before Richards jumped behind the wheel – leading police on a 70km chase across the Sunshine Coast with a 76-year-old resident still in the back of the van.
“They callously exploited that opportunity,” Crown Prosecutor Alex Stark told the court.
The pursuit ended when the minibus crashed into a gutter and police cornered them.
