Five teenage boys have been accused of stealing two vehicles and ramming a police car during a pursuit across Melbourne that began during another home invasion in the city's south-east.
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Police allege four of the teenagers broke into a home in Cranbourne East just after 1am on Sunday and fled in the family's BMW and Volkswagen before a fifth teenager joined them in the crime spree across the city.
The homeowners were uninjured during the aggravated burglary, police said.
Victoria Police spokesman Sergeant Kris Hamilton said police tracked the two stolen vehicles in Richmond to Reservoir.
Two of the boys were arrested in the Volkswagen along the Monash Freeway near Richmond, he said, before police found the stolen BMW in Reservoir.
At one point in the pursuit, a police vehicle was rammed, but the officers inside the car were not injured, he said.
The alleged offenders then jumped through several backyards and tried to hide, but were arrested after the dog squad was brought in, police said.
Police later charged a 13-year-old boy, from Tarneit, with theft of a motor vehicle. He was bailed to appear at a Children's Court at a later date.
Three other boys from Tarneit, aged 15, 16 and 17, as well as a 17-year-old boy from Seabrook, faced an out-of-sessions court hearing on Sunday, charged with aggravated burglary, theft of motor vehicle and other offences.
The four teenagers have been remanded to appear at a Children's Court at a later date.
Sergeant Hamilton said the police were assisted by five K9 teams during the incident and investigators from Operation Cosmas, a campaign designed to tackle a spate of aggravated thefts across Melbourne's suburbs.
There have now been 175 arrests since the operation started in May.
Police in Victoria have been given extended powers to target young offenders in recent months.
Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana said in August he believed police were "making a dent" to curb a rise in youth crime, aggravated burglaries and carjackings in Melbourne.
"It is still safe to live in Melbourne. Yes, we do have this type of offending from time to time, but we are getting on top of it and we will continue our focus to target these offenders," he said.
Sergeant Hamilton said police were patrolling "high-risk locations" day and night to prevent offences from taking place.
