Police have arrested five teenagers after an allegedly stolen car was spotted in the south-eastern suburbs overnight.
Officers were patrolling Waverley Road, Glen Waverley, about 2am when they noticed the Hyundai I30 with five people on board.
The vehicle was followed at a distance before the Air Wing took over observations on the car.
The Air Wing followed the car to Harkaway where the car stopped on Finkal Road.
Police moved in and the occupants of the car fled on foot and ran towards a nearby creek.
The Air Wing directed officers in, who were assisted by members of the Dog Squad.
Four teenage girls and a teenage boy were quickly taken into custody.
The car was searched and it is alleged machetes were found in the vehicle.
Those arrested included:
15-year-old Clyde North girl
12-year-old Narre Warren boy
14-year-old Hampton girl
15-year-old Pakenham girl
14-year-old girl from an unknown address.
All five teens have been released pending further enquiries.
Police believe the vehicle was stolen from a gymnasium in Hallam on 6 August.
This arrest is part of Operation Trinity, which runs every single night until dawn is Victoria Police’s most well-resourced frontline policing operation at present.
There are 70 additional police rostered each night, on top of existing patrols.
This includes frontline officers, Highway Patrol members, the Dog Squad, Public Order Response Team, and Air Wing.
As a result of this intense focus, police have made over 1,450 arrests relating to burglaries and car thefts in the past twelve months.
A further 6,600 people have been processed for other offences detected by police working nightshift across the Trinity area of operations.
