Police car carnage

By Rebecca Fraser
TWO Endeavour Hills police cars have been badly damaged in the last week, including one vehicle being burnt out after the pursuit of a stolen car.
The pursuit started about 10.15pm last Thursday near the Princes Highway and Soldiers Drive area when police went to intercept a stolen car.
The chase continued through a number of back streets and through a paddock before ending near Earlsfield Drive in Beaconsfield, when the stolen car was dumped 10 minutes later.
The police followed the three people who fled from the car.
When the officers returned to the cars, they discovered both vehicles alight.
The CFA believe the stolen car was set on fire as a result of being driven into long grass, which caught fire from the heat of the vehicle exhaust pipe.
The fire spread to the Endeavour Hills police car, and despite the best efforts of the Beaconsfield Fire Brigade, the car could not be salvaged.
In a separate incident at 1.50am on Saturday morning, Endeavour Hills police attended a brawl involving more than 40 people at Furnace Nightclub in Narre Warren, when another police car was seriously damaged.
Sergeant John Blackburn, of Endeavour Hills police, said a Narre Warren male, 20, who was placed in the police car by officers following the brawl, kicked and damaged the interior of the vehicle.
No injuries were reported after the fight, but the man has been charged with criminal damage and being drunk in a public place.
He was released on bail and will appear at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 4 April.
The two incidents come just two weeks after another marked police car was targeted while parked in front of the Endeavour Hills police station.
The damage occurred about 10.25pm on Friday, 10 February, when the car’s windscreen and windows were smashed.
This week, Sgt Blackburn said the station had been forced to borrow vehicles from Narre Warren and Dandenong police stations.
He said the burnt-out car would be completely replaced and the other car would be fixed, but they would receive a new police crewman vehicle.
“They say things come in threes, so hopefully this is the end of it.
“We are still appealing for witnesses to come forward who may have seen the police car being damaged when it was parked outside the station,” he said.
Twenty volunteers from the Beaconsfield and Berwick Fire Brigades attended Thursday’s blaze, along with additional police and police sniffer dogs.
A man, 27, and a woman, 27, were arrested.
The third person who was in the pursued car was later found and has since been remanded in custody.
The arrested pair were interviewed in relation to the theft of a vehicle, and the driver was quizzed about driving offences.
A police media spokesperson yesterday said an application had been made for a summons.
Anyone with any information about the damaged police vehicle can contact Endeavour Hills police on 9709 7666 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.