More than 30 allegedly dangerous road users and car thieves were caught up with by police during an overnight operation in Wyndham this week.
Operation Shows - a regular nightly operation - sees local police work alongside specialist units including the Air Wing, Dog Squad and Highway Patrol to target car thefts and subsequent dangerous driving in the area.
The operation led to five children being arrested after a stolen car allegedly failed to stop for police in Hoppers Crossing just after midnight on Thursday.
The Air Wing followed the car from above - observing it travel to Laverton - before officers on the ground successfully deployed stop sticks on Old Geelong Road.
Five children aged between 15 and 17 were arrested and charged with theft of motor vehicle, theft from motor vehicle and handling stolen goods.
A further 26 people were caught up with during the Wednesday night operation including:
• A 29-year-old man who was arrested in Point Cook on an outstanding whereabouts for allegedly stealing a car in Werribee in February 2024.
• A 24-year-old motorbike rider who allegedly failed to stop for police on Palmers Road in Williams Landing before running a red light about 9.45pm. Air Wing followed from above, observing the rider allegedly reach speeds of 170km/h, before officers on the ground moved in and arrested him out of the front of his Tarneit address. The man had his bike impounded and is expected to be charged on summons with driving unregistered, driving unlicensed, disobeying a red light and exceeding the speed limit.
• A 31-year-old motorbike rider who was observed allegedly travelling at speed with no headlights on in Hoppers Crossing about 10pm. The Air Wing followed from above before officers on the ground arrested him at his Hoppers Crossing address. The man had his bike impounded and is expected to be charged on summons with driving unregistered, driving with no headlights and exceeding the speed limit.
• An 18-year-old New South Wales man was caught allegedly travelling around 30km over the speed limit in Werribee around 10pm. He had his vehicle impounded and is expected to be charged on summons with driving unlicensed, driving unregistered and speeding.
21 penalty notices were issued for drink driving, driving unregistered, speeding, and for a learner driver failing to have an accompanying driver.
During the operation, more than 192 vehicles were checked and 41 were intercepted.
A total of five vehicles were impounded.
Operation Shows will continue to operate in the Wyndham area.
Quotes attributable to Wyndham Local Area Commander Inspector Rachel Van Someren:
"While the community slept, we had scores of police patrolling the Wyndham area from both the ground and the sky.
"We had our eye on car thieves and dangerous drivers in the area.
"With more than 30 offenders caught up with the message is clear - you can't outrun the police Air Wing.
"The community can be assured we will continue to run targeted operations like Shows to catch car thieves and remove reckless drivers from the roads."
