Research reveals new insight into why carjackers target motorists
DRIVERS are ambushed in cars three times a week, in alarming spates of carjackings on Victorian roads and for the first time, the Sunday Herald Sun can reveal the times and days motorists are most likely to be targeted.
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DRIVERS are ambushed in cars three times a week, in alarming spates of carjackings on Victorian roads.
For the first time, the Sunday Herald Sun can reveal the times and days motorists are most likely to be targeted — and it’s not when most would expect.
New statistics show thieves targeted people sitting in their vehicles 148 times last year, with teenage thugs aged as young as 10 now responsible for half of all the disturbing crimes.
TWO MEN ARRESTED IN SKY OVER ARMED CARJACKING
MAN ARRESTED OVER HOPPERS CROSSING CARJACKING ATTEMPT
TWO MEN ARRESTED OVER ROSEBUD CARJACKING
TEEN GIRL ATTACKED IN FRANKSTON CARJACKING
Police believe the phenomenon is driven largely by crooks who target motorists in areas away from their own homes to avoid being linked back to the scene.
An analysis of police data shows motorists have been most vulnerable on a Wednesday.
Double the number of carjackings occur in the middle of the week, the bulk of them between midday and 5pm on Wednesdays.
Detectives are considering the theory that cars are taken in preparation for weekend crime sprees.
While data helps police paint a picture of the problem, victims’ scars remind them every day of the reality of those numbers.
Taylor Hall need only look in the mirror at a mouthful of broken teeth.
Newly licensed, out of school, and off to the beach with her friend and pet puppy on a warm January day, back then the Skye teen had many reasons to smile.
Without warning she was ordered from her seat and her body dragged along the road as thieves took off in her car. She was bruised and battered, her front teeth shattered — and so, too, her trust and confidence behind the wheel.
“I had to celebrate my 19th birthday without teeth,” she said. “I’ve been having heaps of flashbacks.”
Miss Hall and friend Taylah Bartolic were driving to the beach in Frankston on January 22 when strangers allegedly ordered them from the convertible.
The teen tried to rescue her puppy Luna, who was in the back seat, and was dragged along the ground before being flung off.
“I’ve lost a lot of trust in society,” she said. “I’d only just got my licence so it was such an exciting time — that’s been ruined.”
But Miss Hall added she’d been buoyed by community support and was determined to not let the alleged crooks destroy her life.
“Even now I still get people coming up to me (to wish her well),” she said.
“I’m on the upside now and on the home stretch.”
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill said police now had better intelligence and technology to tackle carjackings, leading to 65 per cent of offences being solved.
Police and National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council are trialling new tracking devices which could help curb the crimes.