Police vow never to stop putting the brakes on hoons
Hoon gatherings in Victoria have slumped as police seize vehicles and ramp up a crackdown on high-risk driving, saying “we will not stop”.
Police & Courts
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Hoon gatherings in Victoria have slumped as a massive police crackdown over the past two years appears to have paid dividends.
New Victoria Police figures show the number of meetings statewide in the year to this month was 53, compared to 217 in 2021.
The sharpest declines have been in the traditional hoon hotspots of the northwest metro and southern police zones.
Illegal events in north-west metro dropped from 125 to 35 and from 76 to 13 in southern, major factors in a statewide slide of 75 per cent.
Vehicle impounds appear to have been a major factor in the diminished hoon activity.
A total of 375 vehicles have been seized by police in the past 12 months, while another 791 have been declared unroadworthy.
Police have hit 363 offenders with 2931 charges, as part of their anti-hoon operation, dubbed Achilles.
Assistant Commissioner Russell Barrett said the force was bringing unprecedented numbers of people before the courts.
“The drop in hoon meets has been remarkable, resulting in a significant improvement to community safety,” Mr Barrett told the Sunday Herald Sun.
“The data reflects hoon activity reported to us, not just the meets we attend.”
Mr Barrett said officers had changed their methodology when it came to policing high-risk driving meets.
“They know we are unrelenting in our investigations,” he said.
“If they organise or turn up to an event, previously they were hopeful if they got away on the night, they would never have a knock on the door. But now they know they can expect a knock on the door because we are using every investigative technique we have available to us to identify them and bring them before the courts.
“Recently a comment was made, ‘are police ever going to give up’. My response would be no, we will not stop. We will continue to disrupt hoon events.
“We are not at the finish line, we will continue to work hard on this.”
Police use a range of tools including CCTV, auto number plate technology and social media to hunt down criminal behaviour.
Debts owed to the state are also used as a tool to shut down hoon meets before they have a chance to happen.
Police work with the Sheriff’s Office to identify high-risk drivers with outstanding fines.
A recent Achilles operation targeting the worst hoon drivers across the south-east identified them as owing $484,000 in unpaid penalties.
Police are operating on the basis that confiscating cars will restrict their ability to drive vehicles used in high-risk driving and limit them buying replacements.
Mr Barrett said there was “no doubt” hooning was a continued concern for communities.
“If this behaviour continues, it won't take much for one of these meets to result in death or serious injury,” he said.
“Some people don’t learn and they continue to do what they do. We are focused on the organisers or those who continually behave in this manner. We treat them like criminals, because they are.”
VICTORIA’S WORST HOONS
Jesse Hundhammer
Serial hoon Jesse Hundhammer, 22, faced court this week after terrorising Colac and Geelong streets.
The Holden ute driver, from Colac, pleaded guilty to nine charges of using a mobile phone while driving and 37 charges of losing traction while driving.
Police found more than 30 videos of Hundhammer’s erratic and dangerous driving on public roads during 2021, that were posted to his TikTok account.
Posted under hashtags like #BlackLinesMatter and #F---TheCops, the videos captured him performing burnouts at all hours of the night.
His lawyer said Mr Hundhammer and his friends were engaged in “one upmanship” on “who can take the best video and post it online”.
Hundhammer was fined $5000 and his car will be destroyed.
Andrew Drew
Hoon ringleader Andrew Drew was jailed in October last year for inciting illegal street meets across Melbourne.
He came under police scrutiny after his distinctive Holden Commodore bearing plates ‘RN4MUK’ was spotted at several illegal street meets at Keysborough, Knoxfield and Dandenong South
Drew hooned his car – which at times was draped with the Mexican flag – while hundreds of spectators watched and filmed his antics.
Drew, who attached a Domino’s Pizza topper to his car, also had passengers who hung out of windows while they high-fived cheering spectators.
He pleaded guilty to rolled-up incitement and reckless conduct charges and received a nine-month jail term.
Bailey Devlin
Notorious leadfoot Bailey Devlin, 22, was charged last year after a series of alleged high-risk driving offences including gender-reveal ceremonies.
The convicted braggart has been charged with more than 260 offences including those for dangerous driving and stealing from cars across Melbourne’s southeast.
Devlin gained notoriety for two ‘hoon gender reveals’ where he allegedly performed burnouts near crowds of people to emit clouds of pink or blue smoke, disclosing the gender of his soon-to-be born-children.
A Facebook account belonging the Rowville man carries his name followed by the words “Dixie Normous” in brackets.
Aidan Vrins
Hoppers Crossing man Aidan Vrins, 21, has been charged with a raft of hooning offences including an incident where he struck a spectator with a mate’s Holden SS Commodore.
Police allege Mr Vrins performed burnouts at multiple hoon meets, spinning out of control near onlooking spectators.
He allegedly struck an unidentified spectator, throwing him off his feet about four metres.
He has been charged with 16 offences including three counts of reckless conduct endangering life, three counts of reckless conduct endangering serious injury, driving in a manner dangerous, driving while suspended, driving an unsafe motor vehicle, and committing an
indictable offence while on bail.
Mr Vrins has to live with his parents as part of his strict bail conditions and will next face court on March 16.
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