Two charged, 50 in police sights

– Shaun Inguanzo
POLICE have charged two men in relation to a riot in Noble Park last Saturday.
A 19-year-old Noble Park man and a 19-year-old Endeavour Hills man face counts of burglary, theft and riot, with the Noble Park man also charged on one count of affray.
They will appear before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 22 January.
On Saturday morning, an illegal drag race meeting at the intersection of Princes Highway and Elonera Road in Noble Park turned sour when police tried to disperse a crowd of more than 1000 onlookers about 1am.
More than 50 police and the dog squad were called to the scene to control the crowd, with many people described by police as “passive onlookers”.
Rioters then rampaged through a nearby video store, overturning shelves of DVDs and throwing products around the shop. Videos available on the Internet show one rioter dousing the store’s interior with a fire extinguisher. Police arrested six people at the scene, but have not laid charges against them.
The City of Greater Dandenong and Victoria Police have responded to the riot with a hardline, zero-tolerance approach.
Police have vowed to catch up to 50 people believed to be rioting, and said they were working with the council on strategies to prevent the situation from recurring.
Superintendent Gavin Barry said the road would be resurfaced to prevent hoon behaviour and suggested the council introduce shorter parking times near Noble Park businesses, enforceable by police.
Greater Dandenong CEO John Bennie went as far as to suggest that the Easternats – a legal burnout and drag racing competition held at Sandown raceway in Springvale – could be scrapped when its permit was due for renewal.