Three Victorian teenagers are suspected of an east-coast crime spree, after Queensland police found them sleeping in stolen vehicles at a Gold Coast fast food restaurant on Monday. Gold Coast police Superintendent Peter Miles said the teenagers – a 14-year-old girl, a 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy – were seen sleeping in two vehicles at a McDonald’s car park in Nerang, on the northern Gold Coast, by the restaurant manager who called the police. The alleged teen car thieves were found sleeping in two vehicles at a McDonald’s carpark in Nerang.
Credit: Google Maps “Those children were arrested for a number of offences, including an armed robbery where they stole a BMW at knife point from a woman in Brisbane,” said Miles, adding 10 pairs of keys were found on the teenagers. “It’s a minefield to unravel,” he said. The cars were found to be a Range Rover that disappeared from Merrimac on September 13, and a BMW stolen “at knifepoint” from a woman in Carindale the previous day.
Two teenagers were arrested at the scene, and the third ran away but was later found and taken into custody. They were charged with a string of offences including armed robbery, wounding, theft and bringing stolen goods into Queensland. Investigators also expected the trio were responsible for offences in other eastern states, and had travelled to Queensland in a different stolen vehicle before the two robberies in Brisbane last week.
Police determined the journey began between September 9 and 10 – after the 14-year-old girl was reported missing – and expected the trio spent “at least a day” in Queensland before their arrests on Saturday. “Police have been liaising with Victorian Police to find out whether there have been other offences committed from Victoria through New South Wales to Queensland,” Miles said. “They were located with 10 sets of keys so we don’t know if they’ve done break-ins on the way.
“We’ve got to try and identify where those keys are from. “New South Wales police mightn’t be aware of what we’ve got, and might just think it’s a break-in that’s taken place over the weekend,” he said, adding investigators suspected a car may have been stolen in NSW as well. Joint investigations between all three eastern state police forces, comparing reports and CCTV footage, were now under way.
Police were working to establish a timeline of the teens’ journey of almost 2000 kilometres between the two state capitals, to link potential crimes committed along the way. The teenagers were kept in custody over the weekend and appeared at Southport Childrens Court on Monday. The teenagers’ families had been contacted and were on their way to Queensland, with investigators hopeful they could arrange interviews with the parents.
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