Fed up Gouger St traders say more needs to be done to battle rampant youth crime

The owner of a high-end city restaurant targeted by youths as young as 11 and 13 on the weekend says youth crime is out of control and more needs to be done to deter perpetrators.

The owner of a high-end city restaurant targeted by vandals said youth crime was on the rise and more needed to be done to deter perpetrators.

Gaucho’s Argentinian Eatery was the latest Gouger St restaurant to be targeted by youths, with a window smashed and liquor stolen early on Sunday morning, as fellow traders agreed youth crime was out of control.

Gaucho’s owner Joe Puntureri told The Advertiser the weekend’s robbery was the latest of multiple theft incidents at the restaurant.

“It’s becoming a common denominator now where crime is getting younger and younger … we’re on our third one now within 18 months,” he said.

Gauchos restaurant manager Joe Puntureri, after his restaurant was broken in to over the weekend. Picture: Dean Martin

Kyna Omar enjoys Chimmi Churri Marinated Lamb cutlets with Chorizo Smashed Potatoes at Gaucho's. Picture: Mark Brake

Paul Stanley from KISS at Gaucho's restaurant in Adelaide. Picture: Twitter

“The last time it happened they went through our kitchen.

“It was a 14 and 15-year-old, now we are getting an 11-year-old being arrested, it’s just crazy.

Mr Puntureri paid tribute to the police who he said acted swiftly to arrest the suspects on each occasion but feared once caught, perpetrators were able to be back out on the street and reoffend.

He said police had responded within “a minute-and-a-half” as the building’s alarm sounded.

“The issue here is not the police reaction and what they’re doing, I think it’s what happens after that, where the breakdown is, where these offenders because of their age or whatever the laws are … they’re constantly let out back onto the streets again,” he said.

Dining room at Gauchos Restaurant, Gouger Street, Adelaide.

The veteran restaurant owner – who had been on Gouger St for 30 years – said traders and the general public were suffering the consequences of a “system that I think has loopholes and cracks” where reoffenders were left to reoffend.

“We are trying to create some vibrancy in the city for people to enjoy … what I’m not seeing is the system punishing or giving these people some kind of consequence for offending,” he said.

About 4am on September 1, police responded to reports of a break-in at Gaucho’s Argentinian Eatery after a window was smashed and liquor stolen.

Police later arrested a 33-year-old man from Ingle Farm and two boys – a 13-year-old boy from Ottoway and an 11-year-old from Ingle Farm.

An employee of a neighbouring Chinese restaurant said Sunday morning’s break-in came as no surprise as she often saw broken windows and heard of break-ins on the popular restaurant strip.

The waitress said she had worked at premises on the street for four years and had to call the police multiple times to report violent and anti-social behaviour.