Mongols
MC member allegedly hit out in Warilla pizzeria stoush
A Mongols MC member is accused of using
his bike helmet to clobber the head of a Warilla pizzeria owner, in a
bid to make the man surrender money and his car, a court has heard.
Video footage played at Wollongong Local
Court on Thursday shows Daniel Sarkis clad in a black Mongols Australia
vest and clutching his motorcycle helmet as he approaches the counter of
Vespa Pizzeria the night of September 27 last year.
Owner/manager Cristoforo Andrea Mieli
alleges Sarkis, 30, of Dee Why, used his helmet to strike him about a
minute later, when both men disappeared into an area of the business not
covered by the cameras.
Giving evidence before Wollongong Local
Court on Thursday, Mr Mieli said Sarkis was dating his ex-girlfriend
when he began inundating his phone with messages and calls, demanding
he hand over $10,000 and his car.
“Sometimes I’d have up to 80 missed calls
a day from him,” he said. “I did not have any idea [why], except he kept
mentioning money and the keys to my Holden SS Commodore. In return, he
would stop harassing me – if I paid him the money and gave him the
keys.”
He said he had not seen Sarkis in person
before the night of the alleged assault.
Mr Mieli was at the back of the business
when Sarkis approached the counter about 7.30pm and went to walk behind
it. “He goes, ‘come on, let’s go round the back’. I said, ‘so then you
and your gang of bikie mates can jump me?’,” Mr Mieli said.
He later told police Sarkis repeated his
demands for money and his car but he told him “you’re not getting
anything from me … so leave or I’ll call police”. He said Sarkis sat
down and said “I’m happy to wait.”
Sarkis’ lawyer questioned why
this detail wasn’t in Mr Mieli’s statement, and why he hadn’t provided
police with the intimidating messages Sarkis allegedly sent.
“He [Sarkis] was using fake numbers, fake
phones – burn phones,” Mr Mieli said.
Sarkis, who is in custody for unrelated
matters, is defending himself against charges of assault occasioning
actual bodily harm and intimidation. The hearing continues November 12
before Magistrate Cate Follent.