Two Pakenham teenagers are among a group of youths facing a total of 63 charges of burglary and car theft after police swooped on the group following a series of break-ins across Melbourne’s south-east and eastern suburbs.
At approximately 1.15am on Thursday 23 February, Operation Bird units observed an allegedly stolen vehicle at the intersection of Kidds Road and Power Road in Doveton.
Officers followed the vehicle to Butler Street, where they observed six individuals exit the vehicle and flee to a nearby residential property. All six were later arrested without incident.
Police will allege the youths were involved in 11 incidents, including stealing four cars, between 11 and 23 February.
Their alleged offending occurred in Oakleigh, Keysborough, Dandenong, Toorak, Cheltenham, Clayton, Forest Hill, Keysborough, Malvern, and Narre Warren.
All four cars, a Porsche, two Volkswagens and a Suzuki, have since been recovered.
A further two arrests were made on Friday 24 February by the Southern Metro Region Crime Squad after detectives made further inquiries at a residential address in Hallam; both are facing multiple charges.
Two of the teens arrested on 23 February are from Pakenham, with a 15-year-old boy charged with theft of motor vehicle, burglary, and shop theft, and a 17-year-old boy charged with theft of motor vehicle, affray, shop theft, and committing an indictable offence while on bail. Both have been bailed to appear before a children’s court at a later date.
These police activities were a part of Operation Bird, an ongoing operation run across Melbourne’s south-east targeting vehicle theft and residential burglaries.
The operation sees local police working collaboratively with specialist units including the Southern Metro Crime Squad, Highway Patrol, Air Wing and Dog Squad to act on real time intelligence to identify and apprehend offenders.
Comprising of dedicated units, police are tasked to conduct uniform and covert patrols every single night intercepting vehicles, checking people, and gathering intelligence.
