‘Terrifying brat pack’: Parents urged to dob their kids in to police after teens storm Woolies

2 months ago 18

Parents of any teenagers who were part of a 150-strong “marauding brat pack” that stormed a Melbourne supermarket before brawling on a beach have been told to dob their children in to police.

The teens gathered at Mordialloc Beach about 3pm on Wednesday before the large group stormed into a nearby Woolworths, knocking over shelves, throwing products, shoplifting and abusing staff and customers.

More than 20 officers in riot gear rushed to Mordialloc Beach.

Footage captured of the incident showed wild scenes as the teenagers swarmed the supermarket.

Victoria Police’s Deputy Commissioner Regional Operations Bob Hill described the incident as terrifying and blasted the teenagers involved, calling on their parents and guardians to report them to Crime Stoppers (1800 333 000) before officers come knocking on their doors.

Hill said investigators believed the group, aged between 14 and 17, may have organised to meet on Wednesday afternoon via social media platform TikTok, despite a national social media ban for Australians under 16 beginning last week.

“Yesterday afternoon was a terrifying event ... for the retail workers in that Woolworths store and also the mums and dads and children that were there, potentially doing their Christmas shopping,” Hill said.

Police have an increased presence around Mordialloc Beach and surrounding areas on Thursday in response to Wednesday afternoon’s incident in which youths confronted police, shouting, shoving, and throwing bottles.

“We had 150 marauding youth, a brat pack, if you like, enter that store ... damaging items in the store, stealing items in the store. I understand abusing people within that confine.”

He said the group then left the supermarket before a violent brawl broke out between the teenagers on the beach.

Hill said when police arrived, some of the teenagers turned on officers, pelting them with bottles of water, forcing police to use OC spray to quell what he described as “riotous behaviour”.

A teenage boy was arrested following the chaotic incident.

Hill said investigations into how and why the group stormed the store are continuing.

He vowed police would not stop until they had found every teenager involved in the incident.

“My message is very, very clear,” Hill said. “Last night, mums and dads would have seen that vision on the evening news. Alternatively, they’ve seen it on social media.

“Mark my words – each and every child offender that was observed recorded on CCTV, recorded on social media, or our body-worn camera will be spoken to by Victoria Police.”

He advised parents or guardians of the young people captured in the footage to contact Crime Stoppers.

“It’s better that you proactively contact police, rather than waiting for us to knock on your door in about two or three weeks’ time, if not earlier,” he said.

He said initial investigations suggested the young people were from the local area, including surrounding suburbs such as Bentleigh and Black Rock.

He said officers had to quickly deploy riot and water police as well as the air wing.

“Quite frankly, we’ve got better things to do than deploy to 150 youth causing mayhem on the beach,” he said.

Young people at Mordialloc Beach on Thursday.

Meanwhile, vision has emerged of another group involved in a brawl on the St Kilda pier on Thursday afternoon. Police said they were called to the pier at 1pm after reports a man had been assaulted by “at least two other males”.

“There were a number of bystanders in the area watching the alleged assault. The offenders left before police arrival,” police said. “The investigation is ongoing.”

A police spokeswoman said earlier on Thursday that there had been no injuries, and no weapons were sighted after the Mordialloc incident.

The boy who was arrested – a 15-year-old from the Greater Dandenong area – has since been released pending further inquiries.

“Three other people were spoken to at the scene and released,” the spokeswoman said. “Police will continue to investigate those who confronted and tried to assault police.”

Police said people living in Mordialloc and surrounding suburbs could expect to see more officers patrolling the area over coming days.

Despite the social media ban coming into effect last week, teens on social media apps such as TikTok shared videos of the incident, boasting about the number of police called to respond to the chaos.

In comments on the videos, many young people are referring to each other as “legends” or claiming to have sparked the riot.

Images also show spoiled produce and items strewn along the ground in the supermarket’s aisles, liquid poured on the floor near registers and teens walking around with other items taken from shelves.

Police said they will increase their presence in the area over coming days.

Melburnians flocked to Mordialloc Beach on Thursday on the hottest day of summer so far.

Teenagers made up the lion’s share of those enjoying the sun. Many of them had seen the videos that were circulating on social media after Wednesday’s events.

Friends Bella and Allegra, who live close to Mordialloc Beach and visit often, said they’d never seen anything like it.

“It’s just really random. And I just don’t really understand,” Allegra said.

“I feel fine to be here. Obviously, it happened yesterday, but I don’t really care,” she said.

Parsa, Imogen and Theo – who all recently finished year 11 – travelled more than an hour and a half by bus to visit the beach.

Theo said he’s noticed more police patrolling the beach and the surrounding area today.

“[The video] was pretty bad … but everything’s settled down now,” he said.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.