Police said a gold-colored Ford Falcon sedan exited a side street in northern Bendigo and began wheel spin and burnout at 1:30 a.m. this morning around a flagged police car parked outside The Deck pub.
†[It] lasted for a short period of time and it drew a crowd from a nearby licensed property and certainly put in the car not only the violators but the police officers and the wider community and those patrons,” Acting Superintendent Troy Hargadon said.
A Mexican flag fluttered from the car window as the watching crowd roared in support of what police said was a reckless stunt.
“To see it in such a built-up area, plus in front of the police who don’t stop, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” The Deck’s manager, Frankie Lagana, told 9News.
“My focus wasn’t on what was happening, it was more the crowd on the sidewalks and making sure no one got hurt.”
Hargadon says there was “minor damage to the police vehicle”.
Amid the smoke from the burnouts, police say the sedan wedged the front of the police car.
“That could very easily have been a person or member of the public who suffered significant injuries as a result of that dangerous and unacceptable behavior,” Hargadon said.
After the collision, sparks flew and the suspected perpetrators fled.
Police say they have identified three interesting persons in connection with the incident and have confirmed that the persons in the car are from the vicinity of Bendigo, in their mid to late twenties.
The incident comes as police crack down on ‘taunting’ from youth and street gangs across the state.