Police briefs Melbourne Inner City - February 2026

Three charged over NYE attack

A 20-year-old Richmond man was the third person to be charged over a brutal New Year’s Eve machete attack in Lygon St when he was arrested as part of a joint operation between Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit and the Gang Crime Squad on January 28, Victoria Police said.

Detectives had earlier arrested a 21-year-old Fitzroy man and a 17-year-old boy from the Melbourne area, with all three charged with violent disorder, intentionally causing serious injury and affray.

Police allege a group of males, armed with knives and machetes, set-upon two men outside a Lygon Street business near the intersection of Argyle Place about 11.45pm on December 31 before fleeing in vehicles.

The two victims, aged 20 and 18, sustained serious injuries.

Commercial trafficking charges

A 29-year-old Carlton man was charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of drugs after a police taskforce raided properties in Carlton and the CBD on January 15.
Police said officers from Taskforce Icarus – which is responsible for targeting and disrupting the importation and supply of illicit drugs – started an investigation in late 2025 after bottles of 1,4-Butanediol were detected in the Queensland mail system.
Subsequently it was identified that more than 500 mail items allegedly containing the drug had been sent through the mail to addresses across the country.

The alleged offender was remanded to appear before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on April 9.

Sooshi Mango robber arrested

A Princess Hill man was arrested and charged with more than 50 offences after a campaign by comedians Sooshi Mango, whose Carlton office he allegedly broke into.

The 54-year-old – whose image, captured from CCTV footage, was printed on T-shirts worn by the trio – was charged with multiple burglaries and tens of incidents of obtaining property by deception in Kensington, Fitzroy North, Princes Hill and Carlton, among other offences.

Arson charges

A Lygon St woman was arrested and charged with arson and criminal damage by fire on January 20 after two parked cars were destroyed and a church sustained minor damage in a series of fires in Carlton nine days earlier.

Emergency services were called to reports of the burning cars at Carlton Gardens Primary School carpark off Rathdowne St at about 11.20pm on Sunday, January 11, with crews then finding another fire at the entrance to the Church of All Nations on Palmerston St.

Police said the fires also caused minor damage to the primary school’s grounds.
The 54-year-old alleged offender was due to front the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.

New Year’s Day sexual assault

A Frenchman who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman after helping her from the dance floor of an East Melbourne nightclub has been remanded to appear before Melbourne Magistrates Court in April on charges of rape.

Police allege the 22-year-old, who was arrested at Sydney International Airport on Sunday, January 4, sexually assaulted the woman in Corrs Lane about 4.30am on New Year’s Day.

After his arrest he was extradited to Melbourne and charged with rape, sexual assault, recklessly causing injury, common assault and unlicenced driving. •