Undercover police officer hospitalised after alleged teenage swarming attack at Gordon BWS
An undercover police operation at a Sydney bottle shop has ended in violence after a senior officer was allegedly hit with a glass bottle during a youth “swarming” raid, leaving him in hospital.
Video obtained by 9News showed the chaos that ensued at a BWS in Gordon just before 8pm on July 8; Five heavily disguised teenagers allegedly stormed the store in what police said was part of a growing pattern of group thefts.
NSW Police said officers were patrolling the shopping center on Pacific Road when they saw five teenagers enter the liquor store.
When the police tried to talk to the group, the group allegedly resisted after one of them attacked the police officer with a bottle and the group fled on foot.
Police were already monitoring bottle shops in the area due to concerns that a trend of “mingling” was spreading among young people; investigators suspected that some criminals were organizing through social media.
While the injured police officer was taken to Hornsby Hospital for treatment, the police located the scene and launched an investigation into the incident.
A short time later, police arrested two 14-year-old boys and two girls, ages 15 and 14, nearby.
The four teenagers were taken to Hornsby Police Station and charged under the Young Offenders Act.
Following further investigation, police arrested a fifth teenager, a 14-year-old boy, at a campsite in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park at around 2pm on Tuesday, July 14.
He was taken to Hornsby Police Station and charged with blackened/disguised with intent to commit a criminal offence, theft, obstructing or resisting a police officer in the execution of duty and assaulting a police officer in the execution of duty with intent to cause actual bodily harm.
The boy was denied bail and appeared in the Children’s Court on Wednesday, where he was granted bail to reappear in the same court on August 31.
Police Union president Kevin Morton told 9News the footage was “confrontational” and warned the officer could have easily suffered more serious injuries.
“Our officer was seriously injured, but it could have been much worse,” Mr Morton said.
“He could have been killed.”
Mr Morton said the incident highlighted the risks faced by police and retail workers; as more young offenders are allegedly involved in coordinated thefts designed to overwhelm staff before escaping with alcohol and other items.
“It was a great job by our police officers. We saw some of these crimes,” he told 9News.
“These ongoing crimes are situations where young people enter a building, overwhelm shop owners (and) take what they can.”
