Police swoop on ‘swarming’ teen offenders targeting electronics and fashion stores across Victoria
Fashion-crazed teens targeting and terrorising JB Hi-Fi and Rebel Sport stores, in terrifying “rip and run” thefts are doing so to impress their mates and dress like trendy Instagram stars.
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Teens looking to impress their friends and dress like the people they follow on Instagram are ‘swarming’ retail stores in groups and terrorising shop assistants.
Police are cracking down on the young, fashion-crazed offenders, charging 11 teens following raids over the past five days.
The alleged offenders, all males aged 14 to 17, are accused of taking part in hits on technology and clothing retail stores including JB Hi-Fi, Nike and Rebel Sport.
Offenders ‘swarm’ the shops in groups, ripping phones, shoes and clothing from displays and then running away.
The practice first popped up in February and had surged again over the past month, according to North West Metro Region Commander Tim Hansen.
“Amongst young people, there is this desire to mimic social media influencers,” he said.
“Some of the clothing chains being subject to this sort of offending is also clothing that might be clothing that might be worn by some of these influencers on Instagram.”
The teens caught were charged with theft for incidents between June 21 and July 9 and are due to appear at the Children’s Court at a later date.
Stolen electronics were also recovered in the raids.
Lead cops believe the teens feel social pressure to take part and prove themselves.
“There is a lot of peer to peer pressure going on across this cohort,” Commander Hansen said.
“It’s almost like a challenge to get street cred to come along with us as a group and get involved in this sort of offending.”
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Shops in Thomastown, Sunshine, Airport West, Prahran, Brunswick, Altona North, Geelong and Ararat have been hit over the past month.
Workers at JB Hi-Fi told the Sunday Herald Sun last week the terrifying swooping attacks were happening every weekend.
Store security was told to step aside and make no attempt to apprehend the offenders.
“They are creating fear,” Victoria Police’s Commander Hansen said.
“They are creating angst, especially among retail assistants.”
Officers are working across regional borders to respond catch the crooks more quickly and have created a ‘catalogue of persons of interest and known offenders’ to speed up the process.
Investigators believe the teens are using trains and cars to travel to and from target shopping centres.
Operation Burns is ongoing.