Advertisement
Picture this… Your home’s been raided. You’ve been arrested. All your vehicles have been defected. Plus you’re staring down the barrel of heavy-handed Police officers trying to charge you with 11 different road offences. Not to mention, nearly $30,000 in fines. Sounds like a nightmare, right? Sadly, it was reality for Queensland based 4X4 content creator Sam Eyles.
The recent raids, investigation and charges laid on 4X4 YouTuber Sam Eyles, is one of the most controversial things to happen in our industry for years. A seemingly revenge-inspired attack from Queensland Police has led to a great divide in the 4X4 community. It’s got people all around the country picking sides!
Some media outlets have labelled the targeting as justified. The rest of the 4X4 community is sitting here wondering if what’s gone down is even remotely ethical. Let’s talk about it.
Tension has been growing
Over the last decade, the tension between Queensland Police and car-enthusiasts has been growing at an exponential rate. With racetracks getting shut down, car meets being outlawed and vehicle modification laws constantly getting tightened, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise when the public start pushing back.
What happened with Sam and Sid?
Now, if you haven’t heard of Queensland based 4X4 YouTuber ‘Sam Eyles’ then chances are you’ve been living under a rock. Not only is he a good mate of mine, but one of the top 4X4 content creators in Australia. With his YouTube channel ‘Built Not Bought’ he’s not just pushing the limits of 4X4 builds. He’s also entertaining and educating millions of people around the world.
Sadly, earlier this year, Sam Eyles took his recently purchased ‘clown car’, affectionally named ‘Sid’, for a test-drive through town. The purpose was to test what it could do and to produce a YouTube video revealing the latest addition to his fleet. The car was an old member of a travelling circus and hadn’t been registered for pretty much it’s entire life! He was pulled over by a pair of general duties Queensland Police officers who proceeded to warn him about it being unroadworthy. However, eventually they let Sam driver away in the unregistered vehicle.
The encounter with police was filmed for YouTube and various other social media channels and eventually was posted. This is where it quickly caught the eye of law enforcement. Queensland police asked to have it removed as it showed the police officers letting Sam drive the unregistered vehicle away after being pulled over. The footage wasn’t removed. Sid continued to be filmed doing heinous stunts, some resulting in it running off the road and down embankments, albeit on public roads. Whilst this was a deserted and controlled dead-end street, it seems Queensland Police had a keen eye for the location and stunts happening.
Advertisement
Home raided and charged laid on
Fast forward 8 months, there’s been a seemingly ‘revenge-inspired’ investigation opened into the Built Not Bought channel and Sam Eyles personally. On September 30th, Sam’s house was raided by heavy handed Police officers. They seized every form of media they could including computers, phones, cameras, hard drives and even vehicles. They defected all the vehicles on Sam’s private property and charged him with 11 separate offences. These included dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
Whilst we don’t condone unregistered driving, we’re also not afraid of a little bit of harmless fun if done safely. In this case, I believe Sam’s antics with Sid were. The Queensland Police annual report states that their vision includes “delivering safe and secure communities through best practice.” Their purpose is published as “build relationships with the community.” My question to you folks at home is, does raiding a young Australian’s home over traffic related offences seem like ‘best practice’? Because it certainly doesn’t look like it’s helped build a relationship with the community!
Advertisement
Some of the charges include:
- Two counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle
- Two counts of careless driving, drive defective vehicle (major defect unsafe)
- Two counts of drive with passenger unrestrained, drive unrestrained, and passenger fail to wear seat belt.
Under Queensland’s strict laws, hoon related offences like those above can entail over $5,000 in fines per offence and/or up to 6 months imprisonment.
With a date with a magistrate at Maroochydore courthouse looming in just a few days, 12th Dec 2022, I personally wish Sam and the Built Not Bought family all the best!
Advertisement
Fair enough Sam should not have playing with Sid on Public Roads surely Sam could have taken Sid to a Racetrack or somewhere equitant however
for the Police to raid his house and seize what they did and defect all his vehicles for a simple traffic offence is over the top.
I saw this come through via email, and I could’ve guessed that the author would be Sam Young and that he’d be supporting Eyeles.
Shut and closed case, Sam was being a twit and was on public roads. He got the leniency you wanted originally, and then refused to remove the video. I’m hearing a whole lot of complaining, and not much acceptance of responsibility.
Young keeps writing these articles, I’m goneskies.
Call me old fashioned but I am hoping he gets the punishment he deserves. He was given two warnings, but chose to ignore the second one, by not taking down the YouTube content when asked, all in the name of views.
I personally am sick and tired of wanna be celebrities posting stuff on social media that is against the law. eg drone footage in national parks and climbing safety barriers to get the Insta shot.
I agree with the police that unregistered vehicles should not be on public roads, yes he can have some fun but do it on private property but if he goes onto the roads he deserves to be caught.
Re 4 x 4 YouTuber.
Are you for real? You are publicly condoning someone breaking the law. He was asked by the police to remove the video, no, he just kept right on going. He got everything he deserves.
Okay his a youtuber so does that mean his above the laws that everyone else has to follow. His behaviour also gives ammunition to government to come down on average 4×4 owners for modifications they want to make. He is ultimately damaging the aftermarket industry that he makes his living from.
At least there was a modicum of journalistic integrity declaring the friendship but clearly that’s where the objectivity ends. I and many others have no interest in sharing roads with these dick heads, regardless if those roads are dead ends or not. Take the copper’s on, behave like a smart arse, lose the battle and pile on the copper’s via social media. Seems to be the Australian way. Stay of the road stupid.
You’re defending the stupidity of driving that thing on public roads and then crying hard done by when caught? What education did this bloke provide to the world, how to properly endanger the public and tarnish the 4wding community? This is terrible reporting
Sounds like he got what he deserved.
Just another bloke trying to get 2 minutes of fame by breaking the law. He was let off once & rubbed the Police’s noses in it. What did he expect. Thanks for your one eyed opinion Sam.
The first mistake was letting him continue to break the law and endanger the public.
Lock the clown up.
Qld beautiful one day , still a POLICE STATE the next !
In what world do people think that sort of behaviour is acceptable? The vehicle is obviously not roadworthy and the drivers antics were childish and stupid. The only problem I see with the Police actions were that he was allowed to drive away in an unregistered and grossly unroadworthy vehicle. Social media has become the domain of idiots.
No excuses. Public roads are not places for people who think they’re above the law. Rules are there to protect all road users so idiots stay away.
Get this idiot off our streets.
No wonder their so many idiots on the road if they are watching what he does.
Good on the police for getting tough on these idiots.
They think they have the right a to do stupid and illegal things on public roads.
Well guess what, it is a privilege to get a car license, NOT A RIGHT.
Good on the police for getting unregistered vehicles with idiots driving them, and dangerous vehicles off the roads.
Take away his license because he does not deserve to be driving on the same roads as my children
If you lot think he is hard done by, then I will be stopping your emails coming to me in the future
GET ALL IDIOTS OFF THE STREET. THAT IS WHAT SAY.
On a public road, deserves what he gets.
As for 4×4 sticking up for him, you have really failed here. Sad day
The law is the law if you don’t like it, fight to change it. And the old rule is. If you can’t afford the fine don’t do the crime and it is, a crime.
So…to defect a vehicle on private property, the police would have to prove that had been driven on a public road, and that the defect issued was present when that vehicle was driven on that road…
Silly Sid. Is a total idiot and a fool, you want to play games and and test the waters you will pay the price, he set out to test the police and see what he could get away with, ( let him drive his crappy car home was a good gesture on there part, save the cost of a tow truck ), the he rubs it in there face on u-tube, ( idiot ) if the car in the photo was the same vehicle with the coil springs dagling on the front , they should have locked him up, and scrapped his rubbish vehicle, and give him a bill for it. if you even think hes funny or condone this type of behaviour the your not much better than him, clown belong in a circus, what he dos on his private property his own business, do it on a public road or property, you pay the price, the mans a total FOOL. Regards Dave. N.B. There is a limit to some ones patients, he found it.
Well done Sam. You ARE an idiot 😁 Nobody has the right to drive on public roads in an unregistered and unroadworthy vehicle. You clearly didn’t consider what might happen if you ran over a child who ran onto the road in front of you and was killed, did you. It happens you know. I hope they throw the book at you.
I don’t care if he’s making content for his YouTube channel, he has to abide by the same laws as the rest of us! If it’s not registered & not roadworthy then it has no place on our public roads. If you wanna make content for your channel in an unroadworthy, unregistered vehicle then stick to private property. It’s all fun & games until something goes wrong & he does damage, injures someone else or kills someone! I have no sympathy for him whatsoever.
Agree with you Hillbilly! Don’t make it worse than it already is, play by the rules, which aren’t overbearing btw, then happy days, don’t be a dick just because you’re big on youtube.
I don’t know if you saw your “good mate” on the news tonight filmed leaving court. His smart arse attitude, stupid grin and absurd laugh said it all. Your “good mate” is a dickhead!
I cannot believe someone allegedly intelligent enough to write for Unsealed 4×4 could be so delusional in his comments. You state he was “doing heinous stunts” and “running off the road and down embankments” all “on public roads”. You try to justify this by saying it “was a deserted and controlled dead-end street”. Controlled by who; the same group of mental pygmy who thought it was fine to go through a drive through in that same car? Was that before or after the police had let him off?
I think you and your “good mate” need to spend a bit of time attending fatal traffic accidents. Perhaps your “good mate” would be doing a different laugh after pulling a mangled body from a wreck. Then he could film himself for his Youtube channel giving the death notice to the family! Wouldn’t that be a great laugh for you both! You and your “good mate” need to pull your heads out of each others arse and wake up to the real world.
The best part of all this will come after he is convicted and the police go after his Youtube money as proceeds of crime. At least I hope they do. I’ll be pissing myself then!
He’s an idiot – the police let him off originally when he should have been fined and the car impounded. When asked to remove the content from YouTube he thought he was a celebrity and could do what he wanted. There are Laws we all have to obey and obviously he thinks he is above these just so he can put stuff in the media.
Also, I would have thought that this web site – Unsealed 4×4, would have been on the legal side of things and backing the police, but it seems that it leans towards people being able to break the law just for the sake of publicity
I hope he gets the punishment. He ignored two warnings just to get more views. Hopefully it will make other wanna be celebrities take notice.
I get constantly annoyed seeing people jump barriers and flying drones where it is not allowed just to get the shot.
It appears it is not allowed to criticise the stance taken by the author, that his mate was justified in everything he did and all the laws he broke, just because he has a YouTube channel. You want to peddle your point of view, ask for a response then throw a little tanty and delete the post when you get one you do not like. I’m out. Unsubscribed.
Would the author like to codify what he considers harmless bit of fun so the rest of us can learn when the laws of the land don’t really apply and when they do. The cops did him a favour letting him slide when first caught and he stabs them in the back by posting it up on the net. Bet those two won’t be so nice next time. Nowhere did you say the 11 defects were unjustified. If you play with dogs don’t complain when you get bit.
The cops let him off to drive home. He posted video of this and was asked to take it down, he refused. Full force of the law was handed to him. No reg, no insurance, unrestrained in a vehicle. Come on, how far do you think a person can push before the force comes back. Face up to the result of the actions, no sympathy here.
It’s all safe and harmless until an innocent party is affected, or god forbid, injured by this stupidity.
He made his choice, Police tried to be reasonable, gave him a warning, and asked him to take the video down.
He made his choices and he faces the consequences of them.
“ Whilst we don’t condone unregistered driving, we’re also not afraid of a little bit of harmless fun if done safely.” That contradicting comment shows someone who wants to sit on the fence and not be true to themselves.
What happens when that so-called harmless fun means his car is involved in an accident and hit someone else’s vehicle? No registration means no insurance! What if he’d run over a small child, one of your family members or friends? Why should someone else be out of pocket and have the hassle of needing to get a vehicle repair because this egotistical idiot smashes into them in his unregistered shit box ?! 😡
Sorry to say but this clown has let his arrogance, and self importance and entitlement go to his head and thinks that he can do what he wants out on the roads.
They let him go with a warning and ask him to remove it from YouTube however he left it up there which shows pure arrogance and disregard for the law.
We all have to abide by the law and have our vehicles registered to be used on public roads is a fundamental fact. He probably got what he deserved and this is only the beginning of many more raids to follow.
Do the right thing, register your vehicle and then you won’t have any worry like this happening. Sorry but absolutely no sympathy at all for Sam nor his stupid behaviour.
Exactly. He played a silly game in contempt of the law. Refused to respect a fair request to simply take down a video. So received the required response.
How did he go in court, unfortunately we are in nanny state times
Hi
In my view the police were doing the ‘ build community spirit / relationships’ etc when they let him off with a warning. Putting up the video of the encounter – which did show up the police in a bad light – and then not taking it down when requested virtually invited a response from the police. The police then – not unexpected retaliated – and if you ever expected the police reaction to be anything but way over the top with max fines and imprisonment etc – then I have no idea where you been living. Push the limits – yeah agree – but when you reach that limit – STOP PUSHING.
It’s a tough call. Absolutely the QPS has been overzealous in targeting the 4wd and car enthusiasts in every way possible. Pretty much anything with anodised parts underneath or with a lift and 33’s or bigger gets pulled over. Was Sam endangering lives? None other than maybe his own to a small degree. Was he a risk to other vehicles? Barely, just maybe his trip into town.
Should he have pulled his YouTube clip of cops letting him off? ABSOLUTELY! He put them into a bad position, they were left open to disciplinary action and sets a precedent that the QPS doesn’t and shouldn’t want being public.
What does that mean for everyone else?
No more discretionary warnings and being let off with anything to do with 4wd and trail bikes etc. They probably feel letting anyone off leaves them further open to getting a smacked bum for being nice guys.
Was it heavy handed?
Oh yeah, it sure was but they did ask nicely to take it down.
4WD punters are pretty fickle, the flack you see 4wd shows cop if they do a recovery without a winch blanket or cut a corner in any way and the uproar if they accidentally drive a closed track is huge even when it’s in no way deliberate.
Has Australia become a nanny state, you betcha.
I look at Sam antic as just that, did he sell cocaine or drug to school kids, no but he did break the law yes and would have probably got off if he pulled the footage when asked or not posed it. Most likely.
Been plastered all over mainstream media ? Well that’s was probably a bit far, but his answer at the court house was gold. As he case was a waste of time compared to the stolen vehicle issues in qld or violence issues etc.
Outcome he should have to pay the fine and be part of a good will campaign to educate people as that would be a greater benefit than anything else.
Talk about TOTAL BULL S this is typical of police bullying and instigated by the police who make the BULL S decisions, they spend money and resources persecuting Sam and others when the juvenile car hijacker’s and surburban wheelie hoons are running amok freely with out any police intervention.
do issues he broke tht law but i think he has been set as an example witjh over the top raids on is home, there would have ben less invertigations and man power used on more serious crimes . but the warning goes to everyone do something illegal and film it police will see it a you it as evidence .
>
It seems like Sam has gone over the top . If the police let him off the first time he should have taken that as a warning . If they asked him to take the footage down then why not .I am not allowed to drive defected cars or perform stunts on public roads then why should he especially as he is doing it for income .
All this has done is make things worse for ordinary law abiding 4wdrivers.
Even if he was only endangering his own life there are still consequences for Emergency services, his family and friends and the community. Sounds like he was warned and sent home and he decided to push his luck by publishing his encounter with Police. He is nothing but a fool.
He didn’t appear to give a damn about what would happen to the career of the Officers that let him off, it all could have been averted if he’d pulled the video down, but no, he just continued. Hope he gets the same sympathy he gave the 2 cops
I’m going to say “Ditto” to HillbillyRedneck’s earlier post.
I’m not sure of the exact laws in QLD, but I suspect that the fines, defects and seizures relate to the vehicles he used during the ‘alleged’ offence(s).
I can’t see how QLDPOL could take action against an owner located on private property.
Other than that, ‘Do the crime, do the time.’
BTW… while I realise that he’s a YT creator and videos are his bread and butter. Common sense should have dictated that he did not release the video of the GD’s crew letting him off with a warning. That’s deliberately poking the bear and whinging because he gets bitten!
Australia as a nanny state? Yep. This isn’t an example of that though…
From someone who has issued Safety Certificates and Modification Approvals all of my life, I have never seen so many vehicles that are un-compliant with the regulations that are set out for everyone.
For mine, the Cops and Transport Inspectors are letting owners of registered vehicles get away with too much. (Or perhaps don’t have enough enforcement staff).
Why have a Code of Practice and not enforce it ?
The old Fame replaces fear and consequence syndrome in full action. Not taking the first post done is a kindy lesson he must have forgotten after his millionth YouTube view. I love their content, it’s no longer 1975 however boys. I agree, things are getting out of hand generally with all the pull overs and fines by the boys in blue. The Magistrate will have his/her Xmas entertainment with this one.
Surely there are better and more important stories to be done than some person who thinks he’s above the law.
People mightn’t like them but without them we’re stuffed.
Over the last 40 years or more people in the 4×4 community have been working hard to keep access to public land open for recreational 4x4ers. Unfortunately bad behaviour like driving on closed tracks and excessively damaging tracks makes keeping access open that much more difficult as it gives the land managers who want to lock out recreational 4x4s much more reason lock the gates.
The only reason that recreational 4x4ers still have access to many areas is due to this hard work negotiating with land managers and it only takes idiotic behaviour by a few to destroy these decades of work.
This blokes a goose!! Unregistered, unroadworthy, dangerous driving on public roads. Some numb-nuts will do anything for 15mins of fame. Not to mention all the knuckle-dragging dim-wits who’ll be inspired by this moron.
He was very lucky to receive just a warning for acting like a lunatic. But to then post the police encounter on the internet…..this bloke really is dumb!
I hope they throw the book at this idiot!! He deserves to lose his licence permanently for this display of stupidity. People of such limited intellect should never be allowed behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.
A clown car couldn’t be more appropriate.
After 2 years of ‘police state’ tactics australia wide by our thugs in blue nobody should be surprised by this raid on private property.
There was a time when this was reserved for drug dealers, murderers and the like, alas, no more, do something silly on utube or disagree
with ‘police state’ heavy handiness and you may well find yourself being treated to the sort of hospitality fit for a drug kingpin.
Raiding his home is next level. But if he is found to be driving an unroadworthy vehicle or breaking the law, then sure. He should be held accountable.
I don’t se how you can defend that. Your article makes Unsealed look pathetic.