‘We know these people’: Police confident of arrests after youth armed robberies on supermarkets

Police are assured they volition drawback the equipped “child offenders” who robbed 4 supermarkets successful Melbourne’s south-east connected Saturday.

The radical stole cigarettes and currency from the supermarkets, and 4 employees suffered insignificant injuries including a chopped hand. The robberies began astatine 3.50pm successful Bernard Street, Cheltenham, and continued to stores successful Cochrane Street, Brighton, and Andrew Street, Mount Waverley, earlier ending astatine a 4th supermarket, successful Through Road, Camberwell, astatine 6.30pm.

Inspector Scott Dwyer said the “confrontational” robberies by the youths, who were equipped with knives and were unsmooth with employees, was not thing constabulary saw regularly.

“The incidents that occurred connected Saturday wherever youths person gone successful during the day, equipped [with] knives, and got into a confrontation doesn’t hap precise often, and erstwhile it does, it elicits a truly precocious effect from us,” Dwyer said connected Sunday.

Dwyer described those progressive successful the robberies arsenic “child offenders” aged betwixt 14 and 17, from a scope of nationalities.

“We cognize these people,” helium said. “What we person seen from [Operations] Trinity and Alliance, wherever you person seen america marque astir 3000 arrests successful the past 12 months – we cognize them, we cognize their methodology, and we cognize who they bent retired with.”

Police judge the Mercedes driven by the youths was stolen connected June 7 from a Doncaster East location portion the owners were asleep, but it was made much hard to way by the licence plates from different stolen conveyance being placed implicit the regular plates.

Dwyer said robberies were traumatic for everyone involved.

“It would person been a horrific country for anyone who witnessed it, and 3 unit members received insignificant injuries arsenic a effect of carnal altercation astatine those incidents,” helium said.

“What we person seen is that [people] tin beryllium assured aggregate arrests volition beryllium made quickly.

“The crushed I’m assured of that is that Victoria Police person precocious concluded an cognition targeting cigaret transgression wherever 46 arrests were made linked to 140 incidents involving cigarettes crossed supermarkets, work stations and tobacconists.

“In enactment with that result, I’m assured aggregate arrests volition beryllium made successful respect to Saturday’s incidents.”

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