Police have been forced to step up their patrols as illegal dirt bike riders – some as young as 12 years old – have left locals living in fear in Melbourne‘s south.
Authorities are calling on the public to help catch the serial hoons, who they say are not only putting their own lives in danger, but others too.
“They are idiots, they don’t wear protective gear,” local resident Stephen Hufer told 9News.
“They’ve got no respect for the public or anyone who is around.”
Since February, 19 illegal dirt bikes have been seized in the Hastings area.
Of these, 12 are believed to have been stolen.
The young dirt bike riders have been captured on camera tearing through the main streets of Hastings, sometimes in full view of police.
“They try to bait us into a pursuit,” Victoria Police’s Acting Sergeant Rebecca Coulton told 9News.
“It’s a dangerous mix with kids. They don’t have the experience.”
Westpark Reserve in Hastings features a large makeshift BMX track, but residents say youths on dirt bikes have taken over.
Locals say they are regularly woken from their sleep by the dirt bikes as they screech past their homes.
“They think they are invincible – that’s all it is,” Hufer told 9News.
“There’s going to be a death sooner or later.”
The Mornington Peninsula Shire Council recently installed gates at multiple entry points to the park, but the riders are still finding ways to get in.
“A lot of the time, they use grinders to break through the gates so they can come in and out of the park whenever they please,” Senior Constable Scott Kaye told 9News.
A mobile CCTV camera has now been set up at Westpark Reserve, but police are also encouraging locals to record and report any illegal activity.
“If the community can get a photo or a video, we can hold them to account,” Acting Sergeant Coulton said.
