Daily London
A group of five teenage boys were on their way home from night school on Glen Eira Road in St Kilda East about 9.50pm last night when the ute drove past.
Two men inside the car yelled antisemitic abuse at the group as it passed them, before it came to a stop a few metres from the corner, police allege.
The alleged victims, aged between 15 and 16, ran across the road to get away from the ute, before the vehicle performed a U-turn and drove back past them, appearing to narrowly avoid hitting one of the boys.
“As the young boys were crossing the road, the ute then deliberately drove at them before running through a red light and scouring around the area, continuing to look for the boys,” Southern Metro Region Acting Commander Adrian Healy said.
The father of one of the victims alleged the ute circled the area for several minutes as the boys hid from street view in a nearby school.
“They’re very traumatised, they’re very shaken up,” he said.
“He’s a pretty resilient boy living in this area. It’s not uncommon to have antisemitism screamed at you, but he was quite shaken up, which scared me.”
No one was physically injured in the incident, but the boy’s father said the attack has left the boys living in fear.
“He was fearful to walk to school this morning. I’m hoping with time it will settle, but the boys are fearful,” he said.
“It’s very difficult times for everybody, for every Australian, to have people shouting and abusing and screaming, with such threats to escalate to that level, very confronting, very concerning.”
Police have since identified two persons of interest in relation to the attack and are chasing “a number of avenues of enquiry”.
They believe the ute, which has NSW registration, was stolen in Victoria on Saturday and has since been connected to a series of aggravated burglaries and vehicle thefts.
Healy said they were looking for two teenage males in connection the abusive attack, but did not comment further on their identities.
”It’s an absolute disgrace that this would occur and it’s obviously caused some great concern to the young boys – they’re very, very fearful,” Healy said.
The investigation remains ongoing, and police are urging anyone with CCTV or dash-cam footage of the incident or the vehicle in the area to come forward.
Premier Jacinta Allan has condemned the alleged attack and said police were investigating whether a Nazi salute was performed during the incident.
“That salute is banned here in Victoria, you can be prosecuted for that and Victoria Police will be investigating,” Allan said.
“We’ll continue to do everything we can to make it absolutely clear that antisemitic and hateful behaviour has no place here in Victoria and we intend to strengthen the law, sending a message [that] you will be dealt with for this behaviour.
“No matter whatever faith you are or where you come from, you have the right to live safely and freely here in Victoria.”
Investigators are urging witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report at crimestoppersvic.com.au.
