Trio charged following pursuit through Melbourne’s southeast

Moorabbin Crime Investigation Unit detectives have charged three teenagers following a pursuit in Melbourne’s southeast yesterday morning.

Officers spotted an allegedly stolen grey Volkswagen Golf driving erratically in the vicinity of the Nepean Highway in Highett about 3am.

With the assistance of the Air Wing, police followed the vehicle through Notting Hill, Mulgrave, Huntingdale, and Oakleigh, before successfully deploying stop sticks a short time later near Westall Road in Dingley Village.

Police will allege the Volkswagen continued through Dingley Village before colliding with a vehicle near the intersection of Boundary and Centre Dandenong roads.

Three teenagers were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver and sole occupant of the second vehicle, a 50-year-old Glen Waverley woman, remains in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police will allege the Golf was stolen from outside a gymnasium on Springvale Road, Keysborough just before 1am this morning.

A 16-year-old male from Dingley Village male has been charged with theft of a motor vehicle.

He was bailed to appear before a children’s court at a later date.

A 17-year-old male from Dingley Village male has been charged with theft of motor vehicle, theft, fail to stop vehicle on police direction, reckless conduct endangering life, dangerous driving when pursued by police, recklessly cause injury and driving offences.

He was bailed to appear before a children’s court at a later date.

An 18-year-old Mordialloc male has been charged with theft of a motor vehicle.

He was bailed to face Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on 7 January, 2025.

Victoria Police has been specifically targeting burglars and car thieves each night since March 2023.

Operation Trinity, which runs from dusk until dawn across Melbourne is easily Victoria Police’s most well-resourced frontline policing operation at present.

On top of standard patrols, there are another 70 police including members of the Dog Squad, Public Order Response and Air Wing, specifically tasked with preventing and responding to burglaries and car thefts each night.

As a result of this intense focus, police arrested 673 burglars and car thieves almost 1,550 times over the past year.

A further 7,350 people have been processed for other offences detected by police working nightshift across the Trinity area of operations.

Latest police intelligence indicates that up to 80% of all aggravated burglaries in key hotspots are through unlocked doors/windows or unsuccessful attempts when the offender has discovered the property is locked.

As such, police implore the community to take simple steps such as locking all doors and windows on your home and car.

The data tells us that if you lock your doors, your chances of falling victim dramatically decrease.

/Public Release. View in full here.