Details of Ryan Meuleman's alleged offending were laid out in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday as he applied for bail.
It's alleged Meuleman, dressed only in a hoodie and underwear, entered the driver's seat of a car parked outside a laundromat on Melbourne's southeast fringe on May 3.
Meuleman allegedly turned on the engine and started moving the car but the woman, who was inside with her two three-year-old children, started screaming.
They fought over the gear stick before the woman's husband, who was inside collecting the family's laundry, ran back to the vehicle and punched Meuleman.
The man pulled Meuleman out of the car and restrained him on the ground until the police arrived at the Pakenham laundromat, the court was told.
It's alleged Meuleman provided a fake name to officers but was otherwise incoherent when asked further questions.
He was allegedly on bail at the time for separate burglary and theft charges.
Police opposed bail on Wednesday, arguing Meuleman was a risk of reoffending or endangering the safety of the community.
But Meuleman's barrister Tom Smedley argued his client should be released to residential rehabilitation so he could receive treatment for his drug issues.
Mr Smedley told the court Meuleman began abusing drugs after he was involved in a collision with a car when he was a 15-year-old cyclist.
The 2013 incident involving Daniel Andrews and his wife Catherine is the centre of Meuleman's defamation case against the former premier.
The crash, and the events that followed it, have been widely referred to as the "bike boy" scandal.
Mr Smedley said there was a rehabilitation facility in Shepparton which had assessed Meuleman as suitable for their treatment program.
The regional Victoria centre would notify the police if Meuleman absconded or breached any of his bail conditions, facility manager Matthew Morovan told the court.
But magistrate Phillip Goldberg raised concerns about supervision after it was confirmed staff did not monitor patients between 11.30pm and 6.45am.
The bail application was adjourned to August 5 so defence could consider a possible electronic monitoring condition.
Meuleman's defamation case has also been delayed by the criminal charges, with a hearing date yet to be set.
He has accused the Andrews of causing serious harm to his reputation, after they released a statement in 2024 in response to a newspaper article.
The Herald Sun story claimed a review into the 2013 collision showed police had engaged in an "overt cover-up" and Mr Andrews' story was "deeply flawed".
The Andrews said they did nothing wrong and they would not dignify the "appalling conspiracy theories" by commenting further.
Meuleman claims the Andrews' statement was improper and he should receive aggravated damages.
The Andrews have denied the defamation claim.
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