Police charge Endeavour Hills man after riot

AN ENDEAVOUR Hills man has been charged in relation to a hoon riot in Noble Park last Saturday.
Police have charged a 19-year-old man along with a Noble Park man of the same age.
Both will face counts of burglary, theft and riot, with the Noble Park man also facing one count of affray.
Last 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, including a 20-year-old Pakenham man and 30-year-old Berwick man, but have not laid any 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 that shorter parking times near Noble Park businesses could be introduced by the council and enforced by police.
Greater Dandenong CEO John Bennie went as far 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.