Police said the group first came to their attention about 12:30pm while travelling in a white BMW, believed to be stolen, on the Eastern Freeway at Doncaster.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Police officers arrested the boys minutes after they were seen fleeing from a car in Bourke Street Mall into Myer. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
Officers pursued the car into the heart of the city, where it struck a woman in Exhibition Street, before zooming down the pedestrian and tram-only Bourke Street Mall.<\/p>\n
The woman was taken to hospital for observation with non-life-threatening injuries.<\/p>\n
The teens are facing an array of charges, including theft of a motor vehicle and conduct endangering life.<\/p>\n
The two 16-year-olds have also been charged with aggravated home invasion and aggravated burglary.<\/p>\n
‘Toughen the hell up’<\/p>\n
Speaking shortly after the incident, Victorian Police Association chief executive officer Wayne Gatt said the state needed to “toughen the hell up” on crime.<\/p>\n
“Victorians are just about sick of it,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.<\/p>\n
“I think they’re about over watching on their TV screens serious, violent offending not only in the CBD of Melbourne but in their suburban streets and inside their homes.”<\/p>\n
Mr Gatt, whose organisation represents 18,500 police members, said the Sentencing Act was “like an old house with about a dozen lean-tos on it” in that it was not fit for purpose and too complex.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wayne Gatt says police are being let down by the courts in holding criminals to account. (ABC News)<\/p>\n
He said police were doing their best to bring offenders to account, but the courts were frustrating those attempts.<\/p>\n
“There’s a massive chasm \u2026 between what the community expect and demand, and what is delivered by the courts,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Gatt noted his own family had been in the Bourke Street Mall precinct just half an hour before Monday’s incident.<\/p>\n
“Forgive me if I’m a little bit upset that that place was not safe for our community today,” he said.<\/p>\n
Leader of the Victorian opposition Brad Battin said the state needed to toughen up on current youth offenders to effectively deter them from a life of crime with “break bail, face jail” laws.<\/p>\n
However, Mr Battin said dishing out harsh penalties was not the long-term solution.<\/p>\n
“We need to make sure we have a mixed approach because we’ve got to try and divert that next generation away [from crime],” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.<\/p>\n