According to Victoria Police, 382 arrests have been made linked to car thefts. Source: Brisbane Times
Five teenagers were arrested in Yarraville, Melbourne last night after an aggravated burglary and car theft.
Police were called by a local resident who had alarmed an intruder just after midnight at a property on Moule Avenue in Brighton, in Melbourne’s southeast. The burglar then fled the scene.
A vehicle was also stolen from the same property, which police later saw fleeing towards the city on the Nepean Highway.
Police followed the vehicle, which they said reached speeds of up to 170km per hour, along St Kilda Road and over the Bolte Bridge.
The vehicle was then dumped at Yarraville Gardens, and those inside fled on foot through several properties’ backyards.
Police found two teens hiding on a roof, two in a backyard shed, and one in another backyard.
The five teens, aged between 15 and 17, are currently being interviewed by police, and detectives are trying to work out if the teenagers were also involved in another burglary in Bentleigh just after the incident in Brighton involving another stolen vehicle.
The charges, which the teens are currently being interviewed about, are related to aggravated burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, and traffic offences.
Police have conducted an operation involving looking into aggravated home burglaries and car thefts since March, saying that young offenders have been targeting unlocked homes in order to obtain car keys and steal cars.
Victoria Police say 382 arrests have been made linked to burglaries and car thefts.
