One teenager bailed, three to front court after Bourke Street mall car chase

1 week ago 5

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Four teenage boys have been charged over a police pursuit in Melbourne’s CBD, which saw a car drive into Bourke Street mall and a woman hospitalised.

The four teenagers – aged 17 and 16 – were charged late on Monday, after police allegedly followed the group from the Eastern Freeway in Doncaster from about 12.30pm, to Bourke Street mall.

Four teenagers have been charged after a pursuit across Melbourne ended in Bourke Street mall.

The pursuit came to a dramatic end in front of lunchtime shoppers after about half an hour, with witnesses reporting that teenagers jumped from a white BMW and fled into the nearby Emporium shopping centre before they were quickly rounded up by police.

A woman aged in her 40s was allegedly struck on Exhibition Street during the chase and was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for observation. Police said she was uninjured.

Footage posted online showed the teens handcuffed on the ground, while the car sported smashed front and rear windshields.

The BMW was allegedly stolen from Melbourne’s Boroondara area, Victoria Police said.

Croydon divisional response unit investigators charged one boy, aged 17, with two counts of stealing a car and an additional count of theft. He was granted bail to appear at a children’s court at a later date.

The three remaining teenagers will face a children’s court on Tuesday.

They included a 17-year-old charged with seven offences, including conduct endangering life, dangerous driving, driving unlicensed, and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

Another 16-year-old was charged with nine offences, including aggravated home invasion and four counts of stealing a car. The fourth teenager – also 16 – was charged with aggravated home invasion, two counts of stealing a car, and theft.

More than 130 bollards were installed across the mall after James Gargasoulas killed six people and injured dozens of others driving his car down the busy pedestrian strip in early 2017.

A City of Melbourne spokesman confirmed the existing pedestrian bollards were in place during Monday’s incident, but said they believed the car drove into the mall via tram tracks, which are not protected by the bollard system.

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