Teenage thugs held a blade to the throat of a 71-year-old juvenile-justice officer, forcing him to free them from a youth detention centre in inner Melbourne last night.
The Age understands the six escaped teenagers - described as ''dangerous'' by one of Victoria's top police officers - lured the guard into a room at the Parkville Juvenile Justice Centre and overpowered him.
A ''shiv'', or makeshift knife, was held to the guard's throat and he was forced to the justice centre's entry, where the prisoners threatened to harm him unless they were freed. The guard complied, suffering a cut palm and grazes.
The boys, aged between 15 and 17, and all wearing blue tracksuits, escaped about 10pm.
Within hours, police said, members of the group appeared to have been involved in a violent robbery at a Coles supermarket in Melbourne's south-east.
"We think they may have been involved in an armed robbery down at Dandenong about 4.40am," he said.
"It was an armed robbery of a supermarket where we had three or four people there with knives.
"They took cash and cigarettes before fleeing."
It is believed the youths stole a customer's car from outside the supermarket. Police are looking for a blue, 1999 model Ford Fairmont, with the registration POG 059.
Deputy Commissioner Sir Ken Jones has urged the public to be alert to danger posed by the offenders.
''These lads are dangerous,'' he said.
''They've been at large for some hours so we don't know what [weapons] they've got.
''This particular group is dangerous. They've been involved in armed robberies. They are pretty well known to us. As we speak we've got people trying to track down their associates, going to their known addresses and doing everything we possibly can to get them back into control.''
Sir Ken said police ''strongly" suspected the boys were responsible for the supermarket robbery at Dandenong.
''They will be [desperate],'' he told radio 3AW.
''They're at large. They've used violence to get out of the facility and they know that we'll be looking for them.
''They're dressed in blue tracksuits. They should stand out quite strongly.''
James McCann, acting CEO of Parkville Youth Justice Precinct, declined to comment this morning.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services, which runs the facility, said she could not discuss details of how the offenders escaped.
Anyone with information should contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
Source: The Canberra Times
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