Four of Melbourne’s worst teen offenders have stolen 90 cars

A cluster of well-heeled Melbourne suburbs are repeatedly being targeted by teenage car thieves — and these are the vehicles they are going after.

Four young offenders have been arrested 109 times but continue to walk free.

Four of Melbourne’s worst teen offenders have stolen a total of 90 cars, mostly taken in their combined 170 home burglaries.

The boys – aged between 13 and 16 – have been arrested a combined 109 times but continue to be allowed to walk free to commit other serious crimes.

They are responsible for 171 aggravated burglaries and burglaries, Victoria Police figures obtained by the Herald Sun show.

Investigators from the force’s operation Trinity have continually arrested the quartet – and other high-level recidivists – as they try to combat a wave of car thefts.

The prolific four monitored by Trinity are:

A 13-year-old arrested 30 times since last year over 16 car thefts, 80 burglaries, 10 aggravated burglaries and three robberies.

A 16-year-old who since age 10 has been arrested 47 times over 42 car thefts, 10 aggravated burglaries and six attempted aggravated burglaries.

A 14-year-old arrested 13 times since last year over 55 burglaries, 24 car thefts, 16 aggravated burglaries, 10 attempted aggravated burglaries and four home invasions.

A 16-year-old arrested 19 times in two years over offences including four aggravated burglaries, eight car thefts, an armed robbery and affray.

They are among a wave of juvenile offenders driving the surge in high-end European-made car thefts in affluent Melbourne suburbs.

Senior police say they are motivated not by money but a desire for status or the chance to big-note on social media.

Those crimes carry the additional peril of high-powered vehicles being driven at speed by children with little or no experience behind the wheel.

Reports of stolen Volkswagen surged by an alarming 200 per cent in the past decade from 102 in 2013 to 305 this year.

Meanwhile, the total number of stolen Audis almost doubled, BMW thefts increased by 70 per cent and Mercedes-Benz models by 77 per cent.

Many were taken by teens who sneak into homes in the dead of night and steal keys.

The aggravated burglary teams have in recent years zeroed-in on a cluster of well-heeled suburbs in the east and southeast.

Police say more than half of the thefts currently being committed in those hot spots were carried out on homes which were unlocked and more than 95 per cent of cases involved no confrontation with the victims.

The highest raw car theft number was in Melbourne’s CBD where 973 cars were reported stolen last year.

Hume, Casey and Wyndham suburbs recorded more than 750 stolen vehicles each.

Police recovered three quarters of cars stolen across the state.

Statewide car theft last year was 16,290, 18 per cent down on the pre-pandemic total, but Insp. Rob Nazaretian of southern metro region said thefts and subsequent dangerous driving of vehicles stolen in aggravated burglaries remained a big issue.

“Most youth offenders are stealing these vehicles for a status boost or opportunity to boast on social media, rather than any financial gain,” Insp. Nazaretian said.

“Unfortunately, their driving inexperience and the high speeds they’re driving presents a constant danger on our roads at night.”

Trinity – a special night-time operation using local police, the air wing, dog squad and the public order response team – has made 1400 arrests since March.

More than 350 of those have been for home burglaries and car theft.

The weekly number of cars stolen after burglaries has dropped from 30 to 18 in the past 10 weeks, police say.

“The significant police response we roll out every night across the city is having an impact. Burglaries and associated car thefts have progressively decreased since the operation commenced,” Insp Nazaretian said.

“Our officers will continue the phenomenal job they have been doing every evening.”

Trinity officers have made 432 visits to known offenders in the past

Eastern suburbs resident Kayleen, whose car was stolen from her garage in July, was one of many who first knew their car was gone when they woke up in the morning.

Kayleen said it was recovered by police but it had been so badly damaged by the thieves that it had to be replaced.

“I thought: Why me? I think they (thieves) scoped it (house) out beforehand,” she said.

“It was left in a state where I could no longer drive it.”

The wealthy suburbs youths are targeting

Car theft in affluent Melbourne areas has surged in the past decade as teen thieves zero in on luxury models.

Detailed Victoria Police figures obtained by the Herald Sun show that while overall vehicle crime remains stable, rates of prestige auto theft have increased heavily in the past 10 years.

That has in part been driven by a new generation of juvenile offenders zeroing in on high-income municipalities in Melbourne east and southeast.

The theft number in inner-eastern Stonnington, which covers some of Melbourne’s richest suburbs, went from 261 in 2013 to 413 last year.

In Bayside, based around Brighton, there was an increase from 94 to 251 in that period while Glen Eira rose to 305 from 212.

Other notable jumps were in Wyndham (462 to 760) and Monash (349 to 539) and Greater Dandenong (491 to 684).

Of the hardest-hit country areas, Ballarat rose from 278 to 606, Greater Bendigo from 142 to 292 and Mildura from 161 to 306.

There were areas of significant decline in car theft numbers.

Brimbank dropped from 1065 in 2013 to 589 last year and Darebin from 775 to 488.

Other big decreases were recorded in Banyule, Whittlesea, Knox and Yarra Ranges.

The Holden Commodore remains at the top of theft-by-make ladder.

There were 757 stolen last year, a long way down from the 1179 of 2013.

The Ford Falcon came in second, followed by the Toyota Corolla and Toyota HiLux.

There were significant increases for the lower volume but higher value European makes.

Those include various models by Audi, BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.

‘Junk and rubbish’: Woman’s car trashed

Retrieving Kayleen’s stolen car was just the beginning of her ordeal.

Two alleged thieves broke into the 77-year-old’s eastern suburbs home in July, stealing her car keys and making off with her vehicle, purse, iPad and computer in the early hours of the morning.

Kayleen had her car stolen after intruders broke into her home and stole her car keys in July. Picture: David Crosling

Kayleen said the alleged thieves damaged her car so severely that it had to be written off.

“You should have seen the junk and rubbish in there (car),” Kayleen said.

“It was really badly damaged both externally and on the inside.”

Kayleen urged other drivers to review their insurance policies and the processes in place to ensure they are covered in the event their car is beyond repair.

“It’s not all beer and skittles just because the police have said they’ve found it (the car),” she said.

“The costs began even before I got it back. Luckily my provider was really good, but you don’t know where to begin when this sort of thing happens.”

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