‘Like a war zone’: New gang accused of Werribee riot
A new teen gang terrorising the western suburbs has been blamed for this morning’s shocking party brawl where police were attacked.
It’s been revealed the Werribee house had been rented on Airbnb by a group of 17-year-old girls who were in town for a local basketball carnival.
The gang, who call themselves ‘Menace To Society’, gatecrashed the house, with as many as 40 youths ambushing the Attunga Grove property.
It’s alleged one of the girls was assaulted, at which point police were called.
That’s when the situation escalated, with the gang trashing the house and wild behaviour spilling out into the street.
When police arrived they were pelted with rocks.
One officer was injured, and the critical incident squad was called in.
3AW police reporter Pat Mitchell filmed the below footage from inside the house.
New details about Werribee riot: Police believe gang known as “Menace to Society” to blame. Seven 17yo girls were ambushed, air BnB rental trashed, as many as 40 youths turned on police. Similar incidents in Altona, Williams Landing and Docklands in past week pic.twitter.com/7qcLkVswNP
— Pat Mitchell (@patty_mitchell) December 20, 2017
“It’s amazing,” Pat told 3AW’s Tony Jones from the scene. “There’s holes in the walls, there’s furniture turned upside down, windows smashed, they’ve really trashed the joint.”
Police say the gang is also responsible for similar incidents at Altona, Williams Landing and Docklands.
Click PLAY to hear Pat Mitchell’s full report
Amanda, who lives opposite the house, told 3AW’s Tony Jones it wasn’t the first party — “the previous night they also had a party that went until about 4.30am in the morning,” she said.
“It just happened really quickly,” she said of the violence.
“The street was lined with riot police.
“The young men just kept coming back for more — as soon as police got the street quiet, they kept coming back for more.
“I have a three-year-old and I’m currently six months pregnant so it was quite full-on for me.”
Click PLAY to hear Amanda tell us about her frightful night
In a statement, Airbnb said the renters have been banned, and the hosts are being supported.
Airbnb has zero tolerance for this kind of behaviour, which goes against everything our community stands for. We have permanently banned these individuals from our platform and are fully supporting our host. Our team has also reached out to local law enforcement to offer our assistance with their investigation. We hope justice is served quickly. To date, there have been over 260 million guest arrivals in Airbnb listings worldwide and negative incidents like this are incredibly rare.
New details about Werribee riot: Police believe gang known as “Menace to Society” to blame. Seven 17yo girls were ambushed, air BnB rental trashed, as many as 40 youths turned on police. Similar incidents in Altona, Williams Landing and Docklands in past week pic.twitter.com/7qcLkVswNP
— Pat Mitchell (@patty_mitchell) December 20, 2017
Nearby resident Rob told 3AW Breakfast a terrible mess had been left behind.
“I saw the aftermath. It looked like a war zone,” he said.
Click PLAY to hear his account
Werribee father Jeremy got a call from his daughter who was home alone as the riot broke out.
He arrived just after a rock was thrown through the window, so he grabbed his baseball bat to protect his daughter.
Click the PLAY to hear him tell Pat Mitchell his account
Werribee house party update: Jeremy got a call from his daughter who was home alone as the riot broke out. He got there just after a rock was thrown through the window so he grabbed his baseball bat to protect his daughter. @3AW693 pic.twitter.com/dLJSvOWcKb
— Pat Mitchell (@patty_mitchell) December 19, 2017