A 14-year-old boy from the Mornington Peninsula has been charged with a string of offences, including committing an indictable offence whilst on bail, and has been remanded in custody after taking part in a crime spree with other children earlier this week.
The boy has also been charged with robbery, armed robbery, aggravated burglary (offensive weapon), attempted armed robbery, and theft of motor vehicle.
The four were arrested after an allegedly stolen Mazda SUV was spotted near the intersection of Thompsons and Berwick-Cranbourne roads about 3am yesterday morning.
The vehicle was followed to Bells Road in Clyde North where stop sticks were successfully deployed.
Two occupants, a 14-year-old boy from the Port Phillip area and 14-year-old girl from the Cardinia area, were arrested after the vehicle lost control and crashed.
They were both transported to hospital for observation under police guard and have since been interviewed by detectives.
Despite the injuries to their friends, the other two occupants, the peninsula boy and a 14-year-old boy from the Port Phillip area fled the scene but were later arrested.
The four were arrested and interviewed in relation to 11 alleged incidents on 23 September, including:
- armed robberies at a supermarket on Lyall Road in Berwick, and fast-food outlets on Cranbourne-Frankston Road in Cranbourne West, Jamieson Street in Cheltenham and Nepean Highway in Elsternwick
- attempted armed robberies at a shopping centre carpark on O’Shea Road in Berwick and fast-food outlets on Matterhorn Drive in Clyde North and on Burke Road in Camberwell
- carjackings on Janet Brown Drive in Beaconsfield and Cardinia Road in Officer
- robberies at a shopping centre on William Thwaites Boulevard in Cranbourne North and on Turner Road in Highett
They were also interviewed in relation to a further five alleged incidents on 24 September, including an attempted armed robbery at a fast-food outlet on Spring Road in Mulgrave, and armed robberies at:
- a fast-food restaurant on Glen Huntly Road in Caulfield South about 10pm
- a café on North Road in Ormond about 10.15pm
- a restaurant on Centre Road in Clarinda just after 10.30pm
- a fast-food restaurant on First Street in Clayton South about 10.50pm
All four children were presented to a children’s court where they were remanded in custody.
The arrests come after figures released yesterday show a crisis in youth crime in Victoria.
Crime Statistics Agency data shows that in Victoria, children are overrepresented in serious and violent crimes such as robberies (62.2%), aggravated burglaries (47.7%), and car theft (26.4%).
In the last year, Victoria Police arrested 1,128 child offenders (10–17-year-olds) a combined 7,118 times.
