Police have released the results of an operation that occurred in late August, which has led to the arrest of 35 alleged car thieves and dangerous drivers, as well as the recovery of six stolen cars.
Operation Shows runs sporadically overnight in Wyndham, with local police teaming up with specialist units including the Air Wing and dog squad to target car thieves and track down offenders.
Over the nights of Thursday, August 21 and Friday, August 22, 35 people were arrested and now face a combined 72 charges including motor vehicle theft, unauthorised driving and evading police.
Six stolen cars were recovered and a further five cars were impounded due to dangerous driving behaviour, such as speeding, drink driving or unlicensed driving.
One of the arrests on the first night involved a 45-year-old Melton man, who was allegedly observed driving a stolen Toyota Prado with stolen number plates in Truganina, being tracked by Air Wing to Richmond.
Along the way, the man allegedly stole petrol from a service station, ran multiple red lights, came to a stop and swam across the Yarra River to evade capture before he was arrested on the other side of the river.
He was charged with the theft of a motor vehicle, failing to stop on police direction, theft of number plates, theft of petrol, driving while disqualified and three counts of committing an indictable offence on bail.
A 22-year-old from Hoppers Crossing, who was allegedly speeding on Tarneit Road at about 10.40pm on Friday night in a stolen car, was also among those busted.
Air Wing tracked the car to Hoppers Crossing where two occupants exited the car and attempted to hide in a driveway, before they were arrested.
The Hoppers Crossing man was charged with theft of a motor vehicle and several weapons offences.
The operation commenced in 2022, and over 1000 people have been arrested for more than 1770 offences committed across the Wyndham area.
Werribee Police senior sergeant Peter West said the operation will continue to run.
“You won’t know when Operation Shows is running, so we’d strongly suggest anyone thinking of stealing cars, evading police or driving dangerously in Wyndham to think again.”
