Victoria Police investigating suspects using Ubers to get away from crime scenes

Criminals are fleeing crime scenes across Melbourne suburbs by ordering Ubers and other rideshare services, police believe.

Criminals are turning to Ubers and other rideshare services to escape from crime scenes, police believe.

The Herald Sun has been told investigators are increasingly examining rideshare vehicle movements around the scenes of aggravated burglaries and car thefts in Melbourne.

There have been multiple instances of them being hastily called by suspects eager to get out of the area before police arrive.

In some cases, rideshares have been summoned after the dumping of stolen vehicles in the suburbs.

Ubers and other rideshare services are being used by criminals to escape crime scenes.

Their movements in the vicinity of and around the time of crimes is being analysed by members of a joint cross-Melbourne police operation primarily targeting youth offenders committing break-ins to steal cars from sleeping victims.

It is estimated up to 70 per cent of which are carried out by offenders who stroll into homes via unlocked doors.

The crackdown comprises officers from north west metro and members attached to operations Bird and Fortress, which have been running in the eastern and southern suburbs.

There is no wrongdoing alleged against rideshare drivers but the routes taken with their passengers offer potentially strong leads.

On April 4, public order response teams intercepted a rideshare on Bourke Rd in Hawthorn and arrested a 16-year-old boy from Noble Park and a Fraser Rise girl, 17.

They had allegedly been collected by the service 10 minutes after a stolen Hyundai Tucson was dumped in Anderson St, East Hawthorn.

Public order response teams intercepted a rideshare in Hawthorn and arrested two teenagers. Picture: AFP

A week later at Mulgrave, again in the early hours, police found a Mercedes-Benz earlier stolen from Cheltenham in Wilma Court, Mulgrave.

The Benz had been originally stolen after being parked in the street with keys in the ignition.

A 23-year-old Cranbourne West man and a Roxburgh Park man, 21, were arrested nearby trying to leave in an Uber.

Two other men, aged 33 from Donvale and 43 from Box Hill North, were also arrested over a pursuit near the Mulgrave scene.

Those cases come amid other arrests as part of the same operation, some involving children as young as 13 travelling through the suburbs at extreme speeds in stolen cars.

In some cases, rideshares have been summoned after the dumping of stolen vehicles in the suburbs. Picture: Sarah Matray

Five youths aged 13 to 17 were arrested after a stolen Mitsubishi ASX stationwagon seen rocketing along Peninsula Link at 180km/h was tracked by the air wing to Frankston.

A Mazda 3 spotted doing 160km/h on the Monash Freeway was ultimately stopped using road spikes at Glen Waverley where five teens aged 13 to 17 were detained after help from a canine unit.

The car had earlier been stolen via an unlocked door from a home in Endeavor Hills.

Five teens, one of them a 13-year-old boy, were arrested after two stolen cars were sighted in convoy at Cranbourne.

The Audi and Volkswagen were stolen from a gym as their owners exercised and recovered after being trailed by the air wing.

Assistant Commissioner Therese Fitzgerald of southern metro said the Melbourne-wide operation chasing the city’s worst offenders had resulted in the arrest of more than 135 burglars and car thieves in the past eight weeks alone.

“On top of this, we have also arrested another 350 people for other offences, including drug related matters, due to the sheer number of police out each night,” she said.

Ms Fitzgerald said police were assigned nightly to work with the air wing, dog squad and public order response team to prevent burglaries and car thefts.

She said it was clear offenders wanted their work made as easy as possible.

“The feedback we’re getting during police interviews with alleged offenders is making one thing clear – unlocked homes and vehicles are far more likely to be targeted,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

“Offenders are determined to get in and out of homes without being seen and will try multiple homes until they find one unlocked. They are also not seeking confrontation – more than 95 per cent of all burglaries involve no confrontation whatsoever,” Ms Fitzgerald said.