een arrested after Porsche crashes into Sydney’s Woodville golf course following police pursuit
A 17-year-old boy in a black Porsche with cloned license plates and allegedly armed with a gun crashed into a golf course in Sydney’s west on Monday night following a police pursuit, leading to a dramatic foot chase that ended with the boy being arrested in nearby bushland.
Police said they observed the Porsche SUV driving suspiciously on Mona Street in South Granville shortly after 9:45 p.m. Monday, leading to a pursuit after the driver refused officers’ requests to stop.
The pursuit continued onto Rawson Road in Guildford, where the vehicle crashed over the fence onto Woodville Golf Course. While many people in the vehicle ran away, the car came to a stop near the green of one of the holes.
A 17-year-old boy was arrested by tactical police officers in the woods near the golf course, with assistance from a police helicopter, canine team and traffic and highway patrol command.
He was taken to Parramatta Police Station, where he remains in custody and is assisting police with the investigation. While the other people in the vehicle were released, no other arrests were made.
The Porsche and the firearm allegedly found in the vehicle were seized by the police, and both will be forensically examined.
Porsche carries the characteristics of a brand “kill the car” – a tool used to carry out contract killing on behalf of larger criminal groups that use cloned license plates and stolen cars to conceal the identities of assassins hired for the job.
While they are often stocked with tools to aid violent crimes, such as firearms, sledgehammers, baseball bats, tape and canisters, the contents of “kill vans” appear to be equipped with balaclavas and face masks, which the passengers wear as they travel to carry out the murder.
Contract killers who use the tools are generally not loyal to a particular criminal organization and often have no knowledge or relationship with the intended victim.
They are rented independently and large amounts of cash can be paid to stage the vehicles; this often involves stealing and placing cloned number plates on a car, as well as supplying weapons and carrying out surveillance on behalf of a criminal group.
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Daniel Lo Surdo is a breaking news reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He previously ran The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s national news live blog.Connect via email.
