Gang of girls as young as 13 allegedly roll stolen car in Brighton, Melbourne

Daily Mail​

22-07-2025

A group of teenage girls are lucky to be alive after an allegedly stolen car crashed and flipped onto its roof in a ritzy Melbourne suburb.
Police were called to Rooding Street in the bayside suburb of Brighton about 9.45pm on Monday following reports a black Subaru Forester had smashed into multiple parked vehicles and then rolled.
The teenagers managed to escape the wreckage and fled the scene on foot.
Dramatic photos and footage showed the overturned Subaru Forester flipped on its roof in the middle of the road, which was strewn with broken glass and debris.
Shocked residents were seen inspecting the extensive damage to their vehicles after they helped to free the passengers from the wreckage.
They claimed that up to eight teens may have been inside the car at the time, which was allegedly stolen in Carnegie, about 7km away, earlier in the night.
Bottles of vodka were reportedly also found in the car.
A jetlagged Sarah Cavalier and her family had just returned from their overseas holiday when they were woken by a massive bang outside.
Her car was one of those hit by the Subaru.
'We all ran out and all of a sudden the car was literally right across the whole road and there were all these kids inside going "I need my phone", and they were carrying on and trying to get out,' Ms Cavalier told Sunrise.
'We're all saying, "it's alright, just get out of the car, everything is fine".'
She had no idea the car had been allegedly stolen until the teens fled the scene.
'There's a massive power pole on one side, there's a tree on this side. If they'd hit that pole, there would have been somebody dead for sure,' Ms Cavalier said.
'I don't know how they didn't get seriously hurt.'
Ms Cavalier, who has children of a similar age, said it was 'sad' and 'unbelievable' the teenagers were out on a Monday night.
Three 13-year-old girls and one 17-year-old girl were arrested a short time later and transported to hospital with minor injuries.
They were summoned to face a children's court at a later date.
No other injuries were reported.
The incident has renewed calls for a crackdown on youth crime in the affluent suburb.
'It's not being treated as seriously as it should be,' a resident told the Herald Sun.
'I think the bail laws are just waffle (and) they aren't strong enough. They are out on the street again hours after all this happened.'
One of Brighton's most famous residents, AFL WAG turned anti-crime crusader Bec Judd, has long criticised the state government's response to the epidemic.