A man and three teenagers have been arrested following a series of cigarette and alcohol thefts earlier this month across Melbourne suburbs, including Mooroolbark.
Eastern Region Crime Squad arrested the four in Amayla Crescent, Carrum Downs on Tuesday 12 September.
A Pakenham boy, 17, has been charged with various counts of armed robbery, robbery, shop steal, unlawful assault and driving while disqualified.
The Pakenham boy will appear before a children’s court.
A Wheelers Hill boy, 17, has been charged with various counts of robbery, shop steal, handling stolen goods, unlawful assault, theft, committing an indictable offence while on bail and assaulting police.
He will appear before a children’s court.
An 18-year-old man from Mount Waverley has been charged with handling stolen goods and committing an indictable offence while on bail.
He appeared before the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on 13 September.
A 17-year-old youth from Hampton Park was interviewed and released pending further investigation.
The series relate to up to fourteen incidents across suburbs including Camberwell, Preston, Mooroolbark, Heidelberg Heights, Bentleigh East, Wheelers Hill, Doreen, Laverton North, Alphington, Aspendale, Caulfield South, Carrum Downs, Burwood.
Victoria Police has established a dedicated operation in response to a recent increase in offending at packaged liquor outlets and supermarkets across Melbourne.
As part of Operation Cubed, local police and detectives from Southern Metro, North-West region, Eastern Region and specialist units including PORT, Air Wing and Dog Squad will be targeting known offending hotspots and using all available intelligence to detect and deter offending.
Police intelligence indicates that a small cohort of youth offenders are involved in this recent offending.
The proactive operation will run each day and remain ongoing for as long as required.
