A man accused of a home invasion in Ardmona where he allegedly pointed a home-made gun at a woman has been granted bail after his mother put up a $10,000 surety for him.
Mario Mazzeo, 39, of Numurkah, successfully applied for bail in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court.
Among his charges are aggravated home invasion with a firearm, home invasion with a firearm, aggravated burglary with a firearm, two counts of assault, two counts of possessing a firearm while being a prohibited person, and driving offences.
Senior Constable Jessica Stievano told the court Mr Mazzeo and two other men allegedly forced their way into an Ardmona house at 1pm on August 19 last year, wearing half balaclavas and masks.
She said one of the men allegedly pointed a hand-made single barrel firearm about 30cm from the chest of a man inside the house and said “you want to threaten people and their children?”
Mr Mazzeo then allegedly ran after a woman who ran out the back door and pointed a hand-made gun at her, telling the woman “your partner has ripped off the wrong people”, Sen Constable Stievano said.
The court was told one of the co-accused punched the victim, who was inside the house, and in a scuffle that co-accused’s balaclava was pulled back and the victim knew him.
The three men left, with Mr Mazzeo allegedly jumping over a fence and getting into a vehicle with the other two men.
Sen Constable Stievano said preliminary DNA testing on two fingerprints on the fence that Mr Mazzeo had allegedly jumped over had indicated they were his.
The court was told about 15 or 20 minutes after the incident, the trio was caught on CCTV at a Shepparton hotel.
Sen Constable Stievano said when police searched a shed at the Numurkah property Mr Mazzeo was staying at, they found ammunition, a home-made silencer, a taser, a home-made taser, a loaded pen pistol and a crystal substance.
She said DNA results were still pending on these items and more charges might be laid.
The court also heard of another incident where it was alleged Mr Mazzeo rode a motorbike at speeds of up to 180km/h in Archer Rd, Shepparton, while being pursued by police.
Mr Mazzeo’s solicitor Glenn Cooper said his client would contest all the charges.
He said there were problems with identity when it came to the Ardmona incident as one of the victims described the man that police allege is Mr Mazzeo as having blond or blond-tipped hair, which he did not have in the CCTV footage taken at the hotel soon afterwards.
He also argued that there was a $10,000 surety available, that he had a stable bail address available with either his parents in Cobram or the partner of his daughter in Numurkah.
Mr Cooper also said he could be placed on court integrated services program bail and that there would be a significant delay in the matter going to trial, speculating it may not be until the end of 2023.
Prosecutor Samantha Owen, however, argued that the victim would have been traumatised at the time of giving police a description of the people who did the armed robbery and that Mr Mazzeo was linked to the place through his fingerprints on the fence.
She also said the aggravated armed robbery was serious and would likely attract a lengthy jail term if he was found guilty.
Magistrate Peter Dunn granted bail on conditions that included a $10,000 surety from Mr Mazzeo’s parents, that he lives with his parents in Cobram, abides by a curfew, does not drink alcohol or use drugs, complies with court integrated services program conditions and reports to police once a week.