Former The Chase Australia presenter heated arrest video surfaces in court. Friend steps in with a drug charge confession.
Andrew O’Keefe, the former Channel 7 television host known for presenting The Chase Australia, has appeared before the Downing Centre Local Court.
The charges he stands against include common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, resisting arrest, and contravening an AVO—charges he vehemently denies.
The court session involved the examination of police bodycam footage that captured the fraught circumstances of O’Keefe’s arrest at his residence in 2021. In this distressing footage, O’Keefe vehemently insisted he was not resisting arrest while police officers navigated the tense situation.
“I’m not resisting, I just want to get my fucking meds,”
His voice conveyed through the recording as the encounter with law enforcement intensified.
Throughout the recorded arrest, O’Keefe condemned the officers’ approach, at one juncture likening their behavior to that of Nazis,
“This is a very simple request, why are you being such fucking Nazis about it?”
His frustration with the situation escalated as he was taken into custody, voicing concerns about his treatment and the tightness of the handcuffs constraining him.
Adding to the courtroom’s narrative was the testimony of Daniel Moscari, who has shared a 45-year-long camaraderie with O’Keefe. Moscari volunteered an admission, claiming ownership of a bag of drugs, namely “meow meow”—a synthetic stimulant—that was found at O’Keefe’s domicile. Moscari contended that the drugs were left behind post a pre-Christmas gathering and had no connection to O’Keefe.
“It was my stuff, not his,”
stated Moscari, aiming to absolve his friend from the drug possession charge.
In his elucidation, Moscari recounted how he procured the substance from Kings Cross, noting its unusual color—a result of being mixed with instant coffee to make it more palatable. Upon offering it to O’Keefe, he noted that the host declined, prompting Moscari to leave the substance inconspicuously on the kitchen bench. Under cross-examination, Moscari maintained his testimony’s authenticity against implications that he might be providing false evidence to shield O’Keefe.
The court was also apprised of previously dropped charges against O’Keefe from a separate January 2022 incident due to the absence of the chief witness, marking a complicated legal history for the television personality.
A neighbouring witness’s prior testimony painted a grim picture of an earlier altercation, alleging that a woman had suffered physical harm at the hands of O’Keefe, who left her “shaking like a leaf.”
Despite the gravity of the charges, O’Keefe has admitted to the AVO breach and a separate cannabis possession charge but remained steadfast in his denial of the other accusations.
Chief Inspector Gary Coffey, who participated in the arrest, described O’Keefe as being in an “agitated state,” and posited that his behavior warranted immediate arrest due to the serious nature of the offences he was wanted for, rather than issuing a court attendance notice.
The unfolding legal drama continued to hold the court’s attention as the arrest footage played, showing O’Keefe in moments of confrontation with the police. His invectives against the police methods were on full display, as he claimed, “This is a fucking outrage.”
The hearing before magistrate Alison Viney continues.
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