Three African thugs are on the run after a shocking attack on a rideshare driver in the crime-ridden suburb of Melton in Melbourne’s west on the weekend.
Victoria Police said the driver picked up three men, who were of African appearance and wearing gloves and facemasks, from Melton South at 2.10am on Sunday.
But when he dropped them off in the carpark of a reserve in Sunbury they opened his door and threatened him with a knife.
The three offenders demanded the driver’s wallet before dragging him out of the car, assaulting him and throwing him in the backseat.
They then drove him to Loemans Road in Bulla, where they they threw him onto the side of the road and fled in his black Toyota Kluger.
The car was later dumped on Bennett Street, Melton.
The driver was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition, and was treated for cuts, abrasions and lacerations, 7 News reported.
Melton has become notorious for African gang crime in recent years, and the rideshare robbery comes just weeks after the alleged murder of a Burmese teenager in nearby Kurunjang last month., following a brawl involving up to 40 African youths with machetes.
Crime in Melton is up 22% this year, while in Victoria as a whole youth crime is up 16.9%, and overall crime is up 13.4%, according to data released in December last year. One in three child offenders are repeat offenders who are involved in two or more criminal incidents.
Also in December another teenager was allegedly stabbed by an African gang in Darley, west of Melton, while in September 16-year-old Oscar Hamilton was allegedly stabbed to death at Melton’s Woodgrove Shopping Centre.
That alleged stabbing comes after an alleged machete attack at a train station in Melton South a week earlier, where an African male was arrested after allegedly fleeing the scene through a backyard.
In May, a gang of 15 Sudanese girls bashed a Year 7 girl at nearby Melton Secondary College, leaving her in a serious condition in hospital, while in April terrified families were forced to evacuate a food court at Woodgrove when teenagers attacked each other with axes and machetes.
Header image: The street in Melton where the car was found (file image – Google Street View)
