UPDATE, 11AM SATURDAY:
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Police have charged an 18-year-old Ballarat man and a 17-year-old Sebastopol boy after an allegedly stolen vehicle was sighted in Ballarat Friday morning.
The allegedly stolen Mercedes wagon was spotted on Stall Street North in Black Hill about 9.45am.
The Air Wing followed the car until it came to a stop at a car park in Dana Street, Ballarat Central where the males were arrested.
They have been charged with conduct endangering life, aggravated burglary, theft of motor vehicle, robbery, burglary and other offences.
The 18-year-old was remanded to appear at Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Monday. The 17-year-old was remanded to appear at a children's court at a later date.
UPDATE: Police arrested two young men but are searching for at least one other person after a series of aggravated burglaries across Ballarat on Thursday night.
Ballarat's Detective Senior Sergeant Tim Argall of the Criminal Investigation Unit said the series of offending included about four aggravated burglaries, with three vehicles stolen during these burglaries - one from Lake Wendouree, one from Black Hill and one from Miners Rest.
There was also a handful of reported attempted break-ins.
One of the cars which was stolen was a silver Mercedes Benz which was spotted several times around Ballarat in the hours afterwards.
"At one point police engaged in a pursuit of a silver Mercedes but due to the driving of the vehicle and the danger it posed to the public, the pursuit was called off after a short time," he said.
Following further sightings in the morning, the police airwing was called to assist.
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"The airwing was able to locate the vehicle. Using the airwing we then tracked the vehicle to a carpark in central Ballarat where it was abandoned," Detective Senior Sergeant Argall said.
"Two offenders were then arrested nearby in the carpark."
The boom gate of the car park was somewhat damaged, though none of the offenders, no members of the public or police were injured.
Detective Senior Sergeant Argall said police would allege that the two young men - aged 17 and 18 and from Ballarat - who were arrested as they allegedly attempted to flee from the vehicle were responsible for some of the aggravated burglaries which occurred overnight.
Though he stressed that police were not alleging that the young men were responsible for all of the offences.
"We are not saying these offenders in custody were responsible for the entire series of offending. We are still actively looking for some other offenders who may be responsible for other crimes."
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This includes at least one other offender who police believe may have been involved in aggravated burglaries overnight.
A red Nissan Navarra is still outstanding and police believe it may still be in the Ballarat area.
He said police would speak with the two men in custody, who are known to police, about the Mercedes Benz and other offences related to property found in the vehicle.
"We are comfortable we have all the offenders involved with the silver Mercedes.
"We are not saying these offenders in custody were responsible for the entire series of offending. We are still actively looking for some other offenders who may be responsible for other crimes but we are comfortable that we have these two in custody and have been able to recover this vehicle."
Police also arrested a woman on Eyre Street during the police operation on Friday morning.
The 22-year-old female was intercepted while driving a black Holden Astra and subsequently arrested.
Police believe the female was in contact with one of the offenders in the stolen Mercedes and that she was in the area to pick up one or both of these offenders.
"We were able to intercept and arrest the driver of that black Astra in the area where the silver Mercedes was dumped," he said.
"We found certain illegal items in that black Astra, unconnected to the series of offending overnight, but we are speaking to the driver in relation to those offences."
Detective Senior Sergeant Argall said police had identified an increase in aggravated burglaries in the area during the last week, with investigations ongoing.
There were about 20 police units, including general duties and detectives, involved in the operation on Friday morning, in addition to the police airwing.
Detective Senior Sergeant Argall said the "successful resolution", with the quick arrest and recovery of the vehicle, demonstrated how dedicated police were to catching these types of offenders.
"It's an ongoing part of working in Ballarat as a detective - we identify a series of offences, try and collect evidence that might identify the offenders and work on arresting the offenders and quickly and safely as we can and thankfully today we were successful
"The message to any would-be offenders and aggravated burglars out there is that there a team of dedicated detectives in Ballarat who are working on these offences around the clock and we've got resources from Melbourne - the police airwing and other resources as and when required.
"There will always be a swift response and the community can have confidence that these offences are being investigated and offenders are being identified and arrested."
While police are doing all they can to apprehend offenders, he again reiterated a key message:
"To homeowners and vehicle owners in Ballarat - please lock your houses and please lock your cars.
"The police are doing all we can to identify and apprehend these offenders as soon as possible but we'd ask the public to do their bit - lock your house, be security conscious and make it difficult for these offenders to break in and steal your cars."
UPDATE, 12.40pm: Two men are in custody following a police operation in Ballarat CBD this morning.
It is believed the men stole a vehicle during an aggravated burglary in Ballarat Central last night.
About 6am, police spotted the stolen vehicle and tried to pull it over and a short pursuit followed.
The stolen vehicle was spotted around Ballarat throughout the morning during the police operation, which involved the police helicopter, before it crashed in the Central Square Shopping Centre carpark.
Two men were arrested at the scene and the stolen vehicle was recovered.
EARLIER: A major police operation unfolded in Ballarat's central business district this morning.
The police helicopter was flying above the area about 10am for about half an hour.
There was a heavy police presence around Target, especially around the car park area.
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Plain clothes and uniform police were seen taping off the car park.
It is understood the operation related to an aggravated burglary last night and police pursuit this morning.
About 11am, after crime scene investigators went into the taped off car park, it was reopened and the tape pulled down.
More details to come.
