Jaiden Salvatore Lembo: Albany man gets jail for ‘spate’ of offences that end in police chase crash in lake

An Albany father who led police on a Boxing Day chase through Albany’s suburban streets, sparking spot fires in nearby bushland, and wrote threats in his own blood, has been jailed. Jaiden Salvatore Lembo was in Albany Magistrates Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to 28 offences from August to December 2024. These included drug possession, car theft, assault, threats, fraud, breaching police orders and bail conditions and reckless driving to escape pursuit. The crime spree began on August 15 when the unlicensed 30-year-old was caught driving under the influence of a prescribed illicit substance in Mt Melville. On September 16, he broke into a car in Mira Mar and stole a wallet, sunglasses, a weed trimmer and a leaf blower, later using the credit card in the wallet to purchase alcohol and cigarettes. On October 4, he climbed through the window of a parked Toyota Corolla, stealing a wallet with credit cards, a driver’s licence and $200 cash. On October 8, he stole a Toyota HiLux from the Dog Rock Motel, which police later found on Albany Highway with a lock box of tools missing. The next day, Lembo went to the home of his pregnant partner in Centennial Park, breaching protective bail conditions. He yelled threats and hammered on her front window until it broke, causing deep cuts to his hands and feet. Lembo then entered via the back door and pushed the victim against a door and threatened her. Neighbours and the victim called police who found Lembo smoking cannabis in the kitchen before taking him to hospital for treatment. Lembo returned to the home at 5am the next morning — breaching the order again — entering through the back door and using the blood from his wounds to write “you’re dead” on a cupboard. On October 10, Lembo was arrested in Orana at 8.50am and found with more than $10,000 of stolen jewellery, a .303-calibre rifle, the stolen garden equipment, and less than one gram of cannabis. He was given bail on November 11 on the condition he reside at a family farm in Manypeaks and not contact his partner. On Boxing Day, Lembo led police on a chase for over an hour after they spotted him parked outside his partner’s house in a Ford Territory. When he lost one of his tyres, he continued on three wheels, the bare rim emitting sparks that lit spot fires in the bushland near Serpentine Road, which emergency services crews were called to extinguish. Police apprehended Lembo after he crashed into a lake at Apex Park, finding two bags of methamphetamine weighing 0.85g and a bag of cannabis containing less than a gram in the car. Magistrate O’Donnell said the “considerable spree of offending” demanded a serious sentence. “I gave you bail and you went and blew the opportunity by committing further offences,” she said. “These offences were committed both on bail and off and demonstrates a concerning diversity in offending in ways that require imprisonment.” Lembo was sentenced to one year and eight months prison, backdated to November 6, 2024, with eligibility for parole. He was also fined $5900 plus costs of $1381 and an analysis fee of $200. He will not be able to apply for a driver’s licence for two years.