Brave bystanders have carried out a citizens arrest after an African man allegedly smashed into nine parked cars during a terrifying incident in Melbourne.
The driver, 19, allegedly attempted to flee the scene in Middle Park at about 7pm on Monday morning but locals managed to tackle him and pin him down until police arrived.
CCTV footage obtained by 7News shows a silver Holden Commodore driving down Richardson Street at high speed before slamming into the parked vehicles, leaving many of the written off.
Victoria Police said the man, who lives in Vermont, was arrested and taken to hospital for assessment, and video of the arrest shows him telling officers he didn’t know what happened.
“Honestly, I don’t know, I was on the road, I think I was sleeping, I’ve been at work for 10 hours,” he said in the video.
One of the Good Samaritans, a tradesman named Billy, told The Herald Sun locals were fed-up with rampant crime in Melbourne.
“The crime in Victoria is through the roof and citizens are having to defend themselves because police and emergency services are underfunded in this state and crime is able to flourish, unabated,” he said.
“We just see it all the time. We are constantly having our cars broken into.”
Local resident Emma Dumas said the bystanders who sprang into action were “amazing”.
“They had him pinned down, and they worked really well as a team, and they just made sure that he was not hurt, but just kept him where he was,” she said.
Taylor Dardamnis said her family had lost both their cars in the incident, and said “everyone is in shock”.
“We’re just trying to source cars now, trying to get to work,” she said.
Another local, Xander Alpherts, said it was a miracle no one was injured.
“There’s always people out here, kids and people walking the street, walking their dogs,” he said.
Police are still investigating the incident.
Header image: Left, police detaining the man. Right, some of the bystanders involved in the citizens arrest (supplied).
