Glen Huntly: Arrest in alleged kidnapping case that shocked Australia: Police hunt for ‘known gang member’ after boy, 14, was forced into a car on his way home from school
A 14-year-old “known gang member” has been arrested for the alleged kidnapping of a high school student.
Police arrested the boy from Frankston South in Frankston, saying the teen was helping them with their investigation.
Detective Inspector Scott Dwyer claimed the Frankston boy was the main perpetrator in Monday’s kidnapping.
“We have identified all those individuals we believe are responsible for the attack, and their arrest is imminent,” he said.
“There will be more arrests in the coming hours, and more in the coming days.”
Year 9 Glen Eira College student Benjamin (pictured) is in a serious but stable condition after being kidnapped by thugs while walking home from school
14-year-old Year 9 student Benjamin was bundled into a dark gray Volkswagen Tiguan on Monday afternoon after stepping out of the gates of Glen Eira College in Glen Huntly, Melbourne’s south-east.
The “bright” and “talented” student was left with “life-changing” injuries after he was kidnapped while walking home from school and attacked by a gang of knife-wielding thugs who pushed him out of their moving car.
In the vehicle, he was robbed of his mobile phone and other belongings and assaulted before being thrown from the moving car several hundred feet away.
Inspector Dwyer claimed that the perpetrators had targeted several boys.
“I want to reassure our community, especially the mothers and fathers, the children can safely walk to school,” he said.
He said police sent extra patrols to key locations to comfort parents and deter potential crimes.
Inspector Dwyer said juvenile delinquency, categorized in the 10 to 24 age group, was below pre-Covid-19 crisis levels in 2020, although he said there was an increase in the 10 to 17 age group year.
In the photo: Emergency services on site after Benjamin was found with serious injuries on Monday
He said there are 598 youth gang members from 44 gangs in Victoria and claimed the boy arrested today belonged to one of those gangs.
“That’s significantly less than where we were three years ago, when there were 747,” he said.
He said the police were dealing with juvenile delinquency in the state. “We don’t want people to worry… We’re there with them.”
He said it is too early to say that schools are targets of armed robberies.
Earlier on Wednesday, Inspector Dwyer told radio station 3AW: ‘More victims have been reported.
“There have been some silent victims. They suffered just like this other boy, maybe not as badly as he did, but they didn’t report it to their parents or the police.”