By Victoria Stone-Meadows
Five young people from the south-east have been arrested in relation to ram raids carried out in Clyde and Narre Warren earlier this month.
The ram raids occurred overnight between Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 January.
Four young men and a woman were taken into custody on Wednesday 11 January after a property in Blackwood Drive, Narre Warren, was raided by police about 10am.
It is believed the alleged offenders used a car to smash into an IGA in Clyde and a Coles in Casey Central from where they primarily stole cigarettes.
A 20-year-old man was remanded and faces burglary and theft charges.
He was also wanted for breaching the conditions of his parole for many crimes in the Casey police service area including theft of cars.
A 19-year-old male from Narre Warren was arrested for theft of motor vehicle, but remains under investigation and was not remanded in custody.
A 23-year-old man was charged and bailed in relation to burglary, criminal damage, and conduct endangering life while evading police officers.
A 16-year-old boy from a Springvale address, who was bailed, faces burglary, criminal damage and theft charges.
A 30-year-old woman was also arrested at the property but was released, pending further inquiries into possible charges of theft of a car and handling stolen goods.
Detective Senior Constable Michelle Chiang said while these crimes appeared planned, there was no suggestion the young men who were arrested had links to criminal gangs.
“There has been a lot of attention on youth crime and that stems from the things happening in the young justice centres,” she said.
“There is nothing to link these jobs to gangs.”
Det Sen Const Chiang said while young people who committed crimes did tend to associate with gangs, they often committed these crimes for a lot of different reasons.
“Youth offend for many reasons such as gangs, but also addiction and some just do it for fun.”
“We just ask people to be vigilant and be sensible and smart about security at their home, cars and business.”
“Too often we are still seeing valuables left in cars or garages open; be sensible and think about your everyday actions.”
