By ALANA MITCHELSON
A Highton man has endured a heart-racing struggle with three teenagers after catching them breaking into his garage.
“The adrenaline’s come down now a bit but I’m a bit shaken up,” he told the Independent.
John, who wanted his surname withheld, said he was too shaken to attend work after the incident on Wednesday morning.
The teens now face court on a series of charges related to offences in Highton and Leopold.
John said he was on his usual early-morning walk around his court when an unfamiliar car passed him just before 6am.
“I thought ‘that doesn’t look right’.”
John said the teens had failed to notice him before pulling up in front of his driveway. He watched as they began breaking into his garage.
John said he ran toward the group, cornering two in the driveway.
“I yelled ‘get out of there’ and ‘leave now’.”
The third teen remained in the car as John instinctively tried grabbing the keys, he said.
“There was a struggle. Pulling backward and forward, pushing them away with one hand and grabbing the keys with the other – I’ve got a couple of scratches from that – and then I tossed (the keys) out of reach into some long grass.”
The teens eventually ran away toward Old Flour Mill Road.
John said he was now questioning his actions.
“Looking back, I’m not sure if that was the right thing to do.
“I didn’t really know what they were capable of.”
Police arrested the teens beside the Barwon River at 7am, Detective Sergeant Gavin Mullins said.
He said that police believed the two males and a female had been stealing from cars at Highton and Leopold overnight.
Sgt Mullins warned residents to exercise caution if they were ever involved in similar incidents.
“People in the community should be very careful about apprehending an offender. These kind of kids can often be affected by drugs or might be armed with a knife.
“I’d advise not to act in the heat of the moment and to be really careful.”
Sgt Mullins said police intended to lay burglary and theft charges.
He expected the youths to be bailed to appear in Geelong Children’s Court at a later date.
