Teenage girl attacked in Frankston carjacking
POLICE have arrested four people and charged one man following the terrifying carjacking in Frankston that saw a teenage girl dragged along the road trying to save her dog.
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POLICE have charged a 30-year-old Skye man with a spate of offences following a terrifying carjacking on Monday night in Melbourne’s southeast.
The man, who was arrested by Special Operations Group officers in Dandenong South about 5.45pm on Wednesday, has been charged with aggravated carjacking, reckless conduct endangering life, theft of a motor vehicle and several other firearm and theft-related offences.
In total, four people have been arrested by police, with a 23-year-old St Albans man currently being interviewed.
The other two, a 31-year-old Skye woman and 35-year-old Seaford woman, have both been released pending further inquiries.
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The Skye man facing charges was on remanded in custody on Wednesday night and will face the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
The arrests follow a spate of crimes including a violent carjacking, the ramming of several vehicles — including a police car — and a head-on collision in Frankston.
Taylor Hall, 18, was badly injured as she was dragged along Frankston-Cranbourne Rd while trying save her dog from offenders who took off in her car.
Miss Hall on Tuesday said she was lucky not be hurt more badly and she would never understand the actions of the crooks that left her bleeding on the side of the road after she was flung from the car.
Speaking from her hospital bed, where she was surrounded by family, Miss Hall recalled how she was dragged 50m by her car as the crooks sped off.
She said she had grabbed on, determined to save her eight-month-old rescue dog Luna, who was in the back seat of the red convertible.
“There’s no way that I was going to let her go — she’s only a puppy and she doesn’t deserve to go through anything like that,” Miss Hall said.
“I didn’t think about the danger to myself until after I knew Luna was OK.
“I don’t think I’ve really even processed (the events) yet ... But I think that in the end, I will be fine.”
Miss Hall said she couldn’t understand the motivations of the offenders and why the men had chosen to endanger so many lives.
“They’re hurting other human beings,” she said.
“They’re careless, senseless, they don’t give a crap about anyone else’s lives.
“I could have been dead on the side of the road and they just drove off ... they wouldn’t have a clue what happened to me or anybody else.
“In the car crash, they just literally got straight out of the car and left.”
The teen was driving with her friend to the beach when they witnessed what they thought was a car accident.
But the sight of two suspicious men running from the crash made them realise something more sinister was at play, Miss Hall said.
The men then ran towards her car, she said, and grabbed at her and her friend while screaming “get out of the car, get out of the car”.
Miss Hall said she begged the men to hand back her puppy, and he at one point tried to pass the dog over — but it was restrained by a seatbelt.
Then the men sped off at “full bore” with Miss Hall hanging out of the side, until she was flung off when the car hit a kerb.
“What I want to say to them is just ‘why?’ the teen said
“I don’t understand what people get out of doing these kind of things.
“They that I was attached to that car, they knew that I was trying to get my dog out.
“Why couldn’t they just let me have five more seconds to get my dog out?”
In happy news for the injured and shaken teen, Luna was found in the property of a backyard and reunited with the Hall family soon after.
Miss Hall underwent surgery on Tuesday afternoon for injuries to her mouth and will require extensive dental work to fix her broken teeth.
“I keep telling myself I’m lucky,” she said.
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The offenders hopped between three different cars during the hours-long rampage on Monday night in order to make their getaway.
Police cars and those of innocent motorists were rammed during the incident.
The car thieves had even brazenly hitched a ride with unsuspecting good Samaritans as they dodged police in Frankston.
Frankston Police Acting Superintendent Simon Humphrey said the thieves’ behaviour was “reckless” and the young woman dragged by the car as they fled could have been severely hurt.
“It was a crime wave spanning three or four hours,” Supt Humphrey said.
“A young woman is badly injured, it potentially could have been a lot more serious.
“Five vehicles rammed, two police cars rammed, two pursuits over several hours ... it was extremely dangerous behaviour.”
Supt Humphrey said the teen had suffered injuries including broken teeth.
“She was prepared to stand up to these people,” he said. “Clearly she wasn’t going to just let this occur without trying to retrieve her dog.”
Witness Rebecca said she had to jump out of the way of a red convertible.
“I saw the red convertible come down past all the stopped cars with the young girl hanging from the back window,” she said.
“She fell out or got flung out and landed on the road. She got up and said ‘my teeth’ with her hand over her mouth and then staggered over towards me and grabbed onto my arm.
“(She) was yelling ‘my dog, my dog was in the car’ and she had a gash to her lip and missing (or) shattered teeth.”
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A 35-year-old Seaford woman was arrested at the scene. She has since been released and is expected to be charged on summons with the theft of a motor vehicle.