THE back half of the stolen car was on fire and Tui-Lee Bartlett was hanging out the window as he raced along McCaffrey Drive in a desperate and dangerous bid to escape from police.
Suddenly the Jeep Renegade SUV veered off the road and towards an embankment, the impact tossing Bartlett out of the vehicle and he landed with a thud under a tree.
But the Jeep kept going, careering into another tree, erupting into flames and causing a bushfire.
Bartlett, 28, who spent weeks in hospital under police guard after the crash, appeared in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday via audio visual link from jail where he pleaded guilty to police pursuit, driving a stolen car and reckless driving.
He will next appear in Newcastle District Court next month to get a sentence date.
According to an agreed statement of facts, the 2018 white Jeep Renegade was stolen from a secure underground carpark in Tyrrell Street, The Hill between December 5 and 7 last year.
Police first spotted the stolen car at Bar Beach about 10am on December 7 and saw a woman in the front passenger seat throw a soft drink can out the window.
A check of the registration revealed the plate had been stolen from another Jeep at Merewether but police didn't have time to stop the vehicle because they were on the way to another call, according to court documents.
A short time later, police spotted the stolen vehicle driving behind them on Nickson Street at Bar Beach and the driver honked his horn at the marked police car.
When police pulled over to let them pass, the stolen Jeep stopped alongside the officers and the female passenger gave them the finger before they drove off.
Police watched as the Jeep blew through two stop signs and put on their lights and sirens to pull the driver over.
But the driver managed to disappear and it wasn't until about 20 minutes later that the car was spotted again, this time in Hamilton South.
Again police attempted to pull the car over and Bartlett sped away, triggering a short pursuit that was called off by police due to his dangerous driving.
The NSW Police Force helicopter PolAir was called in and tracked Bartlett as he drove around Cardiff, Wallsend and Elermore Vale, speeding, driving on the footpath, running red lights, crossing onto the wrong side of the road and driving across grass reserves.
At one stage he had to veer off the road to avoid a head-on crash with another vehicle.
A short time later, Bartlett drove into a cul-de-sac in Sygna Close at Rankin Park and the female passenger jumped out of the Jeep.
Police got out of their cars to arrest him, but he drove towards them, forcing them to jump out of the way.
He headed up McCaffrey Drive, but by now something was seriously wrong with the Jeep and police could see flames coming from the back seat.
He was taken to John Hunter Hospital under police guard and was still there nearly three weeks later when his matter was mentioned in court.
