By Victoria Stone-Meadows
A 17-year-old boy from Cranbourne has been arrested while being treated at the Dandenong hospital, after allegedly smashing a stolen car into the back of a parked truck in Cranbourne.
The youth was allegedly driving the car at dangerous speeds on a service lane of the South Gippsland Highway when he crashed just before 7.30am on Friday 20 January.
This crash is the second time in three months the same boy has allegedly ended up in a car crash involving a stolen vehicle.
He had previously been arrested in November 2016 for allegedly smashing a stolen car into a parked sedan at the intersection of Roberts Road and David Avenue in Cranbourne.
Police confirmed he is still to be interviewed and charged for that matter, after spending four to six weeks in a rehabilitation facility and avoiding arrest since releasing himself from that facility.
While he sustained serious injuries in the crash in November, he is being treated for minor injuries following the crash from 20 January.
Joanne Blanch, owner of the truck that was damaged in the crash on the South Gippsland Highway, spoke of the shock of being woken to the crash.
“We were woken when we heard a noise like a loud thud, and then my husband heard yelling so went outside to find out what happened,” she said.
“He opened the gate and that’s when we saw the carnage.”
Mrs Blanch said said she and her husband would be without income while their truck was repaired.
“It’s a tray crane truck that had a new crane installed six months ago and new tyres about two months ago,” she said.
“The car hit it that hard that the side wall of one of the rear tyres has split.”
“It will take two weeks for assessment and then God knows how long we will be out of business for, and we don’t know if it is repairable or a write-off.”
Police and paramedics were called to the scene and said the young man attempted to run shortly after he was placed under arrest.
Investigating officer Detective Senior Constable Peter Warden from Narre Warren Crime Investigation says the boy is also under investigation for other matters.
“The car he smashed was stolen from the Cranbourne area overnight and he is under investigation for a series of thefts from cars overnight between Thursday 19 and Friday 20 January.”
Mrs Blanch blamed the criminal justice system for the behaviour of the young man and said judges needed to get tougher on youth crime if things were going to change.
“They need to stop giving them bail, the police have arrested this kid before and seeing the frustration on the police officers’ faces this morning, it’s heart-breaking for them,” she said.
“The police do their job; they arrest and present them in front of the magistrate and they are let down by the system.”
Mrs Blanch also took aim at those in charge of the youth criminal justice system and blamed them for the increase in violent youth crimes.
“It’s the fault of the Victorian Attorney-General; he is the first officer of the law and he is the one to direct the magistrates to stop repeat offenders from continual bail,” she said.
“And human rights lawyers for stepping in and protecting these kids; the victims have no say and the perpetrators have right of way.
“These kids are doing adult crimes and they need serious punishment.”
Inga Peulich, MLC for South Eastern Metropolitan Region and Shadow Minister for Scrutiny of Government, has also weighed in on the incident, calling for tougher penalties for youth offenders.
“Jude Perera and local Labor MPs in Casey must press the Premier to change to bail laws for serious youth offenders so that those who are a danger to the community and those who continually break the law and put lives at risk can be dealt with by the courts and law enforcement,“ she said.
“Labor and Daniel Andrews cannot continue to go soft on youth offenders at the expense of others in our community whose lives are being ruined.”
