Two teenagers have been charged with multiple offences after two armed robberies in Melbourne’s southern suburbs.
The pair are alleged to have embarked on a crime spree on Sunday that saw them rob fellow teens in Frankston and Cranbourne.
Police say a 16-year-old boy has been charged with three counts of armed robbery and theft of a motor vehicle.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with three counts of armed robbery, theft of a motor vehicle and dangerous driving.
A 13-year-old boy was interviewed by detectives and released pending further investigation.
It is alleged that the teenagers pulled up to a bus stop in a stolen Toyota on Young Street in Frankston at about 9:50am.
They threatened a teenage boy with a knife and stole the victim’s puffer jacket, police allege.
A short time later, the teenagers drove the car to a bus stop on High Street in Cranbourne.
Police say they got out of the car wearing ski masks and approached two teenagers, with one of them holding a knife.
They allegedly forced the victims to hand over their shoes and clothing.
Soon after, police arrested the teenagers after spotting the Toyota and following the car to Dandenong.
They apprehended the teenagers in a shopping centre car park near Dandenong Railway Station.
“Detectives, Highway Patrol officers and uniform police members descended on the area, arrested three male teens nearby, alleged to be the Toyota’s occupants,” Acting Sergeant Paul Hogan said.
Victoria Police’s State Command Control Centre and Southern Metro Crime Squad worked together to apprehend the alleged offenders.
The arrests came after statistics released earlier this month showed that youth crime in Victoria fell for the first time in four years.
It has dropped by 6 per cent for the year to March, but adult crime rose by 10 per cent, according to the Crime Statistics Agency.
Victoria Police says crime is still “unacceptably high”, with a jump of 26 per cent over the past three years.
Investigators allege the Toyota was stolen from a Noble Park address over the weekend.
The teenagers were both remanded to appear before a children’s court at a later date.
