‘Never seen so many cops’: City safety in spotlight after car chase in Bourke Street Mall

The safety of Melbourne’s CBD is once again in the spotlight, after four teens drove an allegedly stolen car into the Bourke Street mall during a police pursuit.

A female pedestrian was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries after the chase, which began on the Eastern Freeway in Doncaster about 12.30pm on Monday, came to a dramatic end in front of lunchtime shoppers about half an hour later.

Witnesses saw the teens jump from the white BMW and flee into the nearby Emporium shopping centre before they were quickly rounded up by police.

Footage posted online shows the teens handcuffed on the ground, with the car sporting smashed front and rear windshields.

Police confirmed they arrested four teens, aged from 15 to 17, who are currently being interviewed.

Officers said the car struck a woman in her 40s on Exhibition Street during the pursuit. She remains in a serious condition in the Royal Melbourne Hospital as of Monday night.

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 that the existing pedestrian bollards were in place during Monday’s incident, but noted the vehicle is believed to have entered the mall via the tram tracks, which are not protected by the bollard system.

Rebecca Grace was shopping with friends when the suspects charged through the shopping centre within metres of them.

“One had what appeared to be a small knife,” she said. “The tactical response and public order response [teams were there]… I’ve never seen so many cops in my life.

“Everyone was just in shock. There was this massive bystander effect. Then I got my phone out and was able to follow what was happening prior to the arrest.

“[Police] didn’t have a chance to do any blocking-off of streets or anything. It literally happened in front of everyone.”

Grace was working as a paralegal on Bourke Street the day of the Gargasoulas rampage and said, just like that day eight years ago, there was a weird energy in the mall following today’s incident.

“My friends all went home and had anxiety attacks. It’s definitely shaken them up.”

“The BMW, believed to have been stolen from the Boroondara area yesterday, was dumped a short time later on Bourke Street Mall and the four occupants fled on foot,” a police statement said.

“They were arrested a short time later outside a shopping centre on Lonsdale Street.”

Two 17-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old from the Bendigo and Yarra Ranges areas were arrested.

Last week’s crime statistics update showed there were more than 33,000 motor vehicle thefts in Victoria in the year to June.

That represents an increase of 42 per cent, with vehicle thefts now at their highest level since 2002.

In Melbourne city, the number of crimes rose by more than 17 per cent in the same 12-month period, while the number of offences committed by children aged 10 to 17 has increased 13.7 per cent year-on-year.

Youth crime continues to rise in the state, with the number of offences committed by children aged 10 to 17 jumping 13.7 per cent year-on-year.

Premier Jacinta Allan thanked police for quickly apprehending the suspects.

“My thoughts are with the pedestrian who was injured as well as those who witnessed this event,” she said in a statement.

“This is disgraceful, dangerous behaviour. Victorians won’t tolerate it and neither will we.”

Before today’s Bourke Street incident, Allan had appeared with Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush at the National Police Remembrance Day event in the city.

There Bush said the increasing crime phenomenon “must be turned around”.

“We as Victoria Police must challenge ourselves to police differently so that we’re not just responding to crime,” he said while observing National Police Remembrance Day.

Standing by his side, Allan said recent bail and youth justice law changes by her government were working to reduce crime.

“Turning around that increase [is] going to take a lot of work, by Victoria Police,” she said. “If there’s more work that we need to do to strengthen the laws and provide support, we’ll do that.

“It’s also important … to recognise the changed circumstances that we’re in in 2025 that weren’t there just a year or two or a few years ago. It’s a changed environment that Victoria Police [and] teachers in our classroom are operating in.

“So it’s ensuring that the programs we have for the future are tackling both the competitive measures stopping particular kids from getting into that criminal behaviour, and then looking at the programs that can support them to turn their lives around.”

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