Teens terrorise Sunshine Coast’s Coolum Beach on school holidays

Residents of a sleepy beachside suburb have been subjected to property damage, threats of violence and hold road safety fears amid an alarming youth crime spike.

A Sunshine Coast suburb’s residents are experiencing property damage, violent fights and have road safety fears with groups of teenagers terrorising streets at night.

A man who has visited Coolum Beach for more than 30 years, but wanted to stay anonymous, detailed a fight between teenagers and a man allegedly armed with a knife breaking out near the front yard of the home he was staying in on Santa Monica Av.

“The story that these kids said, because they came around the next day, and they had a video they have given to the police of the guy pulling a knife and they claim to be innocent,” he said.

“Some older gentleman pulled a knife on them and threw a bin at them.”

The visitor said he had seen different groups of teenagers on the street since arriving in the suburb on September 21.

A usually quiet street, Santa Monica Av in Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast has been terrorised by groups of teens this school holidays. Picture: Letea Cavander

 “We’ve spoken to a few kids on scooters … just warning them ‘you guys are innocent, you need to be careful’,” he said.

The visitor said separate groups of teens had also caused damage to a garage door across the road and kicked his caravan.

Multiple groups had been seen on the street and surrounding streets on bikes, electric motorbikes and e-scooters.

“It was one of those little motorbikes that had a siren on it and a beeping horn and then they’re just screaming past,” the visitor said.

“They’re just being menaces.

“They’re swearing really racially abusive stuff like ‘f’ n----rs and stuff like that.”

A usually quiet street, Santa Monica Av in Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast has been terrorised by groups of teens this school holidays. Picture: Letea Cavander

Four youths were also found breaking and entering into Palmer Coolum Resort on Thursday morning.

It is alleged that two people, a male and a female, were apprehended by resort security and taken into police custody, with the other two people reportedly fleeing the scene.

A Queensland Police spokesperson said that police arrested two youths in the area in relation to the incident, but investigations were ongoing.

Police arrested two youths at Yaroomba following an alleged break-and-enter at the Palmer Coolum Resort.

“A 15-year-old boy was charged with enter premises and commit indictable offence. He was bailed to appear at the Maroochydore Children’s Court at a later date,” they said.

“A 12-year-old girl was dealt with separately under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act 1992.”

Concerns have also been raised about policing.

The Santa Monica Ave visitor said he tried to phone the Coolum Beach police station without any luck at the weekend and said understaffing issues meant it was not always “manned” for the public while officers patrolled.

The visitor tried to phone the Coolum Beach police station at the weekend with no luck.

“That’s pretty alarming, especially given what’s going on,” he said.

Another resident, who has lived on the street “since it was a dirt road” in the 1980s, said she was most worried for the teenagers on bikes because of traffic.

“A few nights ago there was seven or eight boys, they were in the middle of the road, they have no sense and they never had any lights on at all,” she said.

“Some of them are quite young, where their parents should be in control of what they do particularly at night.”

She said she was worried for their safety.

The Santa Monica Av resident said her neighbours had tried to have traffic calming devices or a set of lights installed on the road in the past with no success.

On David Low Way, the Coolum Boardriders Club had also been graffitied.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman said that police were aware and worked with the community “regarding reported anti-social behaviour by youths” in the area.

“Investigations are continuing into a wilful damage complaint that is alleged to have occurred between Monday evening, September 25, and Tuesday morning, September 26 and continue to appeal for information from the public,” he said.

“Police were advised of an incident where a weapon was allegedly shown to a juvenile and their scooter stolen, however, no complaint was forthcoming and investigations into the matter have since concluded.”

The spokesman said the Coolum Beach station provided a “24-hour policing response” to the community.

He said if anyone was in danger, or saw someone else in danger, they should phone triple-0.

A Sunshine Coast Council spokeswoman said a resident contacted the council in 2020 to raise concerns about Santa Monica Av.

“An investigation was conducted, which found that the majority of drivers who use Santa Monica Av travel at a speed of 50kmh or less,” she said.

The spokeswoman said guidelines showed 50kmh was an appropriate speed for the street.

“Traffic calming devices are considered in locations where there is both a demonstrated widespread issue of non-local through traffic as well as an evident speeding issue,” she said.

Originally published as Teens terrorise Sunshine Coast’s Coolum Beach on school holidays