The Melbourne suburbs and luxury cars most frequently targeted by teen criminals — and where the cars will end up afterwards
How likely is it your car will be stolen by teenage criminals in Melbourne? Here are the hotspots for thieves, where the cars will end up, and which ones are nicked most often.
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Out-of-control teenagers have stolen cars worth more than $200 million in the past two years.
Victoria Police figures released to the Herald Sun show 3031 cars were stolen in aggravated burglaries in a band of suburbs across Melbourne’s south and east in the past two years.
The cars have an estimated average value of $60,000.
Four of the top-five makes stolen in 2023-2024 were the prestige European makes BMW (370), Mercedes-Benz (361), Volkswagen (283) and Audi (236).
They were stolen in areas covered by Operation Trinity, a special effort aimed at curbing vehicle-motivated aggravated burglaries being carried out by youth offenders.
Trinity runs in the municipalities of Boroondara, Manningham, Monash, Whitehorse, Dandenong, Casey, Cardinia, Kingston, Glen Eira, Bayside, Banyule, Darebin, Nillumbik, Whittlesea, Frankston, Mornington Peninsula, Stonnington, Port Phillip, Knox, Maroondah and Yarra Ranges.
The figures do not include cars stolen by teens involved in youth crime chaos in other areas of the state.
The western suburbs and major regional centres like Geelong and Ballarat have also been hard-hit by such offending in recent years.
Victoria Police’s Operation Trinity data indicates that one in four vehicles (403) were stolen from the Boroondara, Manningham, Monash and Whitehorse areas last year.
More than 300 cars were nicked from the Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia areas, while 17 per cent of vehicles were taken from the Kingston, Glen Eira and Bayside suburbs.
Almost a third of all stolen vehicles (479) were then recovered in the Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia areas, while 10 per cent turned up across the Mornington Peninsula and in Frankston.
More than a dozen vehicles also showed up in regional areas including the Bass Coast, Baw Baw, Latrobe, Ballarat, Bendigo, East Gippsland and Mildura areas.
Five stolen vehicles were recovered from north of the border.
Teenagers under the eye of Operation Trinity largely target luxury vehicles capable of reaching speeds exceeding 200km/h.
Trinity data shows that while BMWs were the vehicles most commonly stolen cars – officers had successfully recovered more than 95 per cent of those cars.
The force recovered 178 of 186 BMWs stolen by teenagers last year, with only eight vehicles unaccounted for.
There were also 181 Mercedes stolen before 172 of those were found by police – again an impressive 95 per cent recovery rate.
On average, Operation Trinity members successfully recovered more than 94 per cent of all vehicles stolen in the affected suburbs last year, while just 83 remain outstanding.
What happens after your car is stolen?
So what do young criminals do with a car after they’ve committed a terrifying home invasion and found a set of keys?
A quick scan of some of their social media accounts each morning will show some of the death-defying stunts they perform behind the wheel of a high-speed, luxury car across the city.
After climbing in through a window or sneaking in through an unlocked door, the masked crusaders snoop around kitchens, lounges and bedrooms in search of a set of keys.
Worryingly, they are typically not phased by an array of security cameras.
Once securing a set of keys and driving off with their new luxury car, the joy ride begins.
It is not uncommon for teenagers to film themselves flying at speeds exceeding 200km/h along major freeways in videos posted purely for social media notoriety.
They will have one gloved hand on the steering wheel while holding a phone in the other, zooming in on the stolen car’s speedometer showing dizzying and deadly speeds.
The Monash Freeway, EastLink, Peninsula Link, Burnley and Domain tunnels are some of the favoured stretches of freeway for underage hoons.
They will ‘thrash’ the luxury cars, mainly BMWs, Mercedes and Volkswagens, before dumping in on the side of road a few hours later.
Just a few days ago, video was posted to Instagram of a stolen Mercedes reaching 213km/h across EastLink late at night.
The young teenager, who was filming the steering wheel with his left hand, filmed almost 30 seconds worth of footage at speeds above 200km/h, including driving under a toll point at 205km/h.
Days later, one hooded crook posted a video of himself driving at 181km/h along the same freeway in a stolen Honda in the middle of the day.
The short videos are usually posted to their ‘Instagram stories’, which expire after 24 hours and leave little trace of the criminal activity.
These clips are posted online virtually every single night.
In some cases, victims’ cars are used in a new wave of cigarettes burglaries, where suburban petrol stations are targeted for hundreds of packets of smokes.
Victoria Police do an extraordinary job in recovering the vehicles for owners; locating more than 94 per cent of stolen cars.
But they often require major repair work or are of little value after being thrashed at dangerously high speeds.
The teenagers’ joy rides have also had fatal consequences in recent months with the deaths of at least two innocent road users.
Do you feel safe? Tell us your story at news@heraldsun.com.au
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