Police pepper spray gang of youths after wild bus brawl at Chelsea Station
A wild brawl that ignited on a bus in Chelsea has locals in fear, ahead of tomorrow’s extreme heat blast. One witness said the out-of-control youths were “screaming” at each other in the moments before this shocking footage was captured. WATCH THE VIDEO
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A bayside suburb descended into chaos last night, with police pepper-spraying a bus load of youths and riot police called in as reinforcement.
Fighting broke out aboard the public bus in front of Chelsea station shortly after 10pm.
Minutes earlier, the group of about 50 youths had gathered at the beachside station and were met by about 30 Victoria Police officers.
Remnants of the mess caused last night remain strewn along Station St, with multiple discarded shirts covered in pepper spray, alongside empty beer bottles and plastic gloves.
The violent incident happened directly over the road from the Chelsea police station.
A witness who alighted a train at Chelsea at 11pm said he saw two large groups standing about 20m apart, yelling at each other.
He said police had separated them and it was mostly under control by that stage.
“It was just a lot of screaming and carrying on,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said a group of African youths known to police were becoming “unruly” on the beach and were moved on.
“We had our units down there (at Chelsea beach), a group of African youths who were becoming unruly,” Mr Patton said.
“We used our move-on powers and directed them to move out.”
A fight then broke out on a bus, before capsicum spray was used to defuse the violence.
Mr Patton hosed down safety concerns, saying the youths were not committing any offences.
“There were thousands of people out on the beaches last night,” Mr Patton said.
“The reporting today would give an impression it was out of control, actually it’s quite the contrary.
“We had our units out there. They were becoming unruly, disturbing people on the beach. They weren’t committing any offences.
“We used our move-on powers and directed them to move out.
“A small group of those, about 20, took the train. Another 30 were out on the bus. A police officer was on there maintaining them to keep calm. As a result, there was a fight between two of those people. One was being assaulted. The police officer deployed spray, as a result of that numerous people on the bus received secondary spray.
“There wasn’t offending on the beach, that was unfortunate a fight broke out, but it doesn’t mean it was unsafe on the beaches.
“Our operation worked the way it should’ve worked, we moved them away.
“We’re still having difficulty identifying who that victim was in that group.”
Mr Patton said the group on the bus was capsicum sprayed but no bystanders were caught up in the spray, only the group of troublesome youths.
It comes amid fears that Friday’s extreme heat could attract more unruly behaviour in the area as people flock to the nearby beach.
Chelsea resident Lavanya Raikar said there were growing concerns over youth violence in the area.
The primary school educator has lived in the suburb for four years and said she had seen multiple fights at the beach and the train station, as recently as last week.
“It’s worrying, I definitely think people are in fear. It’s not very safe,” she said. “You see gangs meeting down at the beach, especially on hot days.”
Tina Sadawi, who owns Nepean Hwy cafe Bubbly Beans, said traders were concerned about the impact on business.
She said fights between teenagers were happening far too frequently and she wanted a tougher crackdown from police.
“Enough is enough. We had the troubles last year. Police should be arresting them from the start,” she said.
“They need to do something about the troublemakers. My customers are afraid. My daughter is scared to go to the Safeway.”
She said there have been multiple incidents on hot days where a dispute has started on the beach and spilt onto the nearby shopping area.
“Every time it’s hot weather they’re there screaming, swearing, breaking the bottles. It’s happening too often.”
Police this morning confirmed four arrests were made last night, one relating to an assault on the bus.
Friday’s 43C day could spell more trouble, she said.
“Police need to be very alert, particularly down near the beach. I am worried there could be more gangs meeting.”
HOW THE VIOLENCE IGNITED
The Herald Sun witnessed the tense stand-off between the group and officers, before about 30 youths stormed on to a 902 bus, headed for Airport West.
According to police, “a fight broke out between two groups” on board. The Herald Sun then watched police force their way on to the packed bus and fire pepper spray at the brawling youths.
The mayhem spilt out on to Station St, with officers eventually forced to close part of the road.
One youth was heard saying: “I f---ed her up, I f---ed her up. Say something now, I f---ed her up.”
Multiple others cried out “I need f---ing water” after being doused with pepper spray.
A group was taken to nearby Chelsea police station where they were hosed down with water, as others screamed at officers.
A passer-by wound down his window, yelling: “Get these c---s out of here.”
Victoria Police spokeswoman Creina O’Grady said the group had earlier been “causing trouble” at Chelsea beach.
They were moved on by officers who were conducting a “weapons-search operation” in the area.
“A number of police units including several Public Order Response Team officers attended in Chelsea last night after receiving reports of 40-50 youths causing trouble, pushing and yelling in local streets near the railway station about 9.30pm,” Ms O’Grady said.
“Police had spoken to the youths earlier and they agreed to get on a bus with the intention of leaving the area.”
An 18-year-old man was arrested but was released in the early hours of this morning.
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Police said they will make inquiries “about his possible involvement in several incidents which occurred during the night”.
A breakaway group of youths walked to the nearby Chelsea station and were watched by Transit police officers before catching trains to Caulfield and Springvale.
Onlookers retreated as the fracas spilt on to the streets, just metres from Chelsea’s main street.
Others turned around to avoid walking through the area.
Last week, medics said they were dreading “the next hot day”, fearing more bloody bashings along the Chelsea foreshore, as locals pleaded for authorities to “please do something”, saying “we are all scared”.