The final two Malmsbury youth detention centre escapees have been caught by police in Colac, bringing an end to a 24-hour manhunt.
An allegedly stolen Ford Falcon XR6 vehicle was found abandoned on Balnagowan Avenue about 2.45pm.
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Four teens are arrested in Melbourne's southeast but three remain at large after breaking out of a youth detention centre amid a riot and allegedly carjacking a pensioner's SUV on Wednesday. Courtesy Seven News Melbourne.
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The final two Malmsbury youth detention centre escapees have been caught by police in Colac, bringing an end to a 24-hour manhunt. Courtesy Seven Network.
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Malmsbury riot: four teen escapees arrested
Four teens are arrested in Melbourne's southeast but three remain at large after breaking out of a youth detention centre amid a riot and allegedly carjacking a pensioner's SUV on Wednesday. Courtesy Seven News Melbourne.
The two boys, aged 16 and 17, were arrested in nearby Stoddart Street park shortly after. It's believed one of the two teens has links to Mount Gambier, about three hours west of Colac.
Police Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp said two teens were arrested almost 24 hours to the minute after their escape from the detention centre.
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A riot, which involved 30 inmates, started after a number of youths assaulted a staff member and gained access to his keys.
Fifteen young offenders escaped the facility about 2.45pm Wednesday.
Four of the seven teens on the run overnight were arrested earlier on Thursday. A 17-year-old Redan male, was arrested near Ballarat about midday.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the Malmsbury breakout and rioting would result in significant changes to the youth justice system and threw his support behind Minister for Youth Affairs Jenny Mikakos, who has come under pressure to resign.
About 8am on Thursday, four youths were arrested at a house in Ashburton, Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton told Fairfax Media.
Weapons allegedly used in a home invasion at Mitcham were seized at the Ashburton home, police said.
At 2.30am, the home of a young family in Quarry Road, Mitcham was stormed by youths who smashed through their front door brandishing a machete. A couple and their two young children, aged four and one, were inside. Neighbours heard screams of "Get out, go on!" before the youths stole their silver Mercedes.
The luxury car was later seized by police at the Ashburton house.
Police rushed an application before the Children's Court to allow the release of names and photos to assist in the escapees' capture. However, the escapees were captured not long after police received the court's approval to release the names and photos.
A crime every hour
Crimes allegedly linked to the young criminals occurred almost every hour overnight in Melbourne, and potentially in Moe, including:
- Attempted armed robbery in Berwick at 9.20pm where offenders confronted a person in a driveway of a house and tried to steal a car.
- Assault with baseball bat in Bonbeach at 10.45pm. A victim was assaulted with a baseball bat by four youths. Victim was also threatened with a knife.
- Two armed robberies in Noble Park at 11.15pm. Two victims were threatened with a baseball and a knife and their phones stolen.
- Hit and run at Mulgrave at 11.40pm. A white Suzuki SUV, which several escapees had been travelling in, was involved in a collision with another vehicle and dumped at the intersection of Springvale and Wellington roads in Mulgrave.
- Armed robbery at 12.30am outside Sexyland in Hallam. Knife was used to threaten.
- Aggravated burglary at 2.30am on Mitcham where offenders smashed in the front door. Carrying a machete, they threatened the residents and stole a silver Mercedes. Believed to be linked to the youths arrested in Ashburton.
Mr Patton said none of the victims sustained injuries. "But the trauma of such a thing would be horrendous," he said.
The escape
The riot has been described by a source as "the worst they had ever experienced" at the problem-plagued correction centre.
"Clients were bashing at the door with chair legs and other weapons, then used the swipe [card] to open the door," the source said.
The source said the youths stole keys and a swipe card from a guard, before a "code white" (a riot) was called.
The inmates used the swipe card to gain access to an unsecured area, where they jimmied open a sally port - the entryway into the prison - the source said.
According to the source, 15 youths then piled into a ute, rammed a fence and escaped. They dumped the ute and car-jacked three other cars, ramming other vehicles and prompting police pursuits.
The escapees led police on two high-speed pursuits of up to 160km/h, before police called off the chase.
Six of the escapees were arrested after a pursuit in the Bendigo area, which finished at Lockwood, where a police vehicle and a stolen vehicle were involved in a collision.
"We've been getting bagged a fair bit lately for our pursuit policy," Mr Patton said.
"But the policy allowed us to go hard on these people and enables members to pursue when there's a risk to public safety."
Attempted carjacking
Some of the escapees allegedly rammed a car on the Calder Freeway, terrifying a couple and their young grandchild.
Ray Blackmore told Channel Nine several youths carrying iron bars leapt from a vehicle which rammed his car on Wednesday afternoon.
"This other vehicle came across the median strip and came straight towards us," Mr Blackmore said.
"We realised once they jumped out of the ute with iron bars that we were in trouble."
One of the youths shook the passenger car door where Mr Blackmore's wife, Judy, was sitting.
She believed the group stopped when they realised their young grandchild, Ally, was also a passenger in the car.
"As soon as they spotted her, they backed off," she told Channel Nine.
Two others who escaped the Malmsbury facility on foot were found walking shirtless through paddocks about five kilometres from the detention centre.
Final chase
The Ford Falcon, driven by the final two escapees, was seen in the Geelong area on Thursday afternoon and south-west Victorian police were aware that one of those teenagers was from the Warrnambool area.
A police source said officers suspected the teen may try to return home.
"When they left Geelong heading west about 1pm we got very interested because we had a fair idea where they may be heading," the police source told Fairfax Media.
"When they got to Colac we kitted up and had resources in place. We had cars along expected routes and spike strips to use if needed. We had put in some thought and were prepared."
Malmsbury remained in lockdown on Thursday, and Ms Mikakos said police would remain at the detention centre until repairs were made to the facility.
On Wednesday, Fairfax Media revealed that the Andrews government was warned in an explosive secret report months before the latest riots in Victoria's youth prisons that the system was spiralling out of control in "a continued and ongoing threat to the safety of staff and clients"
- with The Warrnambool Standard, Emily Woods, Neelima Choahan and Richard Willingham