Teens arrested, boys on the run after tragic crash in Victoria

One man has died, two teenage girls have been arrested and four men are wanted after an allegedly stolen car crashed into another in Melbourne’s east.

A Jeep Grand Cherokee collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Warrigal Rd and Highbury Rd in Burwood at about 7pm on Tuesday (local time).

Police said the Jeep was driving fast and erratically when it hit the second vehicle, killing its driver, who was the sole occupant.

His identity has not yet been officially confirmed.

There were six teenagers in the Jeep, four of whom were men who escaped after the accident.

Two 15-year-old girls were arrested for allegedly trying to escape. A witness managed to catch one of them.

Police have described the residents’ decision to flee the scene and leave the dying man as “absolutely cowardly”.

“It was a heavy impact, a high-speed impact. They know that someone would have been injured in that vehicle… leaving someone injured or dead is cowardly, it’s absolute cowardice,” Senior Sergeant Christian Von Tunk said.

The Jeep was allegedly stolen during a violent break-in at a home in Cranbourne South last week and then used in two armed robberies in Ormond and Ripponlea on June 30.

Police said they were devoting “significant resources” to finding the men involved and asked their friends and family to urge them to come forward.

“Anyone who is known to the people in that vehicle, if you know those people, tell them to come forward, we want to talk to those people,” Von Tunk said.

The teenagers are known to police and were taken to hospital under police supervision, from where they were released and arrested.

Housing Minister Harriet Shing said the collision was “absolutely devastating” and asked anyone with any information to get in touch.

“We want to make sure we understand what happened,” she told reporters.

“We have the lowest youth crime rate in Australia, but we also know that it is a very small group that commits crimes on a regular basis.”

Child and youth crime has increased in Victoria over the past year, according to data released in June by the Crime Statistics Agency.

The number of offenders in the 15-17 age group increased by almost 25% in the 12-month period to 15,495.

However, the data revealed that a larger group of repeat offenders committed more serious and violent crimes, including robberies, violent burglaries and car thefts, mainly in the eastern and south-eastern suburbs.