A 16-year-old boy has been charged over a series of violent burglaries at an aged care facility in Canberra’s south, including a terrifying armed confrontation in which a security guard was chased and knocked to the ground by offenders wielding a knife and machete.
The crimes, which unfolded between December 2025 and March 2026, targeted an aged care facility and retirement village in the suburb of Monash. ACT Police established Operation Rioni to identify those responsible after multiple incidents were reported at the facility, which houses some of the community’s most vulnerable residents.
In one of the most alarming incidents, a security guard on patrol at the aged care facility was confronted by three offenders. Two of them produced a knife and a machete, chasing the guard before knocking him to the ground and stealing his torch.
In a separate incident on 22 March, a black Nissan X-Trail was stolen from the retirement village and later crashed into a house in the suburb of Gowrie. The male occupants fled on foot, and when a bystander attempted to intervene, he was threatened with knives.
On 19 May, officers from ACT Policing’s Proactive Intervention and Diversion team executed a search warrant at a southern Canberra residence, seizing property stolen from the retirement village — including licence plates from one of the stolen vehicles.
The 16-year-old boy, who was already subject to good behaviour orders at the time of his arrest, has been charged with aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, and possession of a prohibited weapon.
Police say investigations into the identities of co-offenders — including those involved in the stolen vehicle incident — are ongoing.
Anyone with information about these incidents is urged to contact Crime Stoppers via the Crime Stoppers ACT website, quoting reference number 8359932. Information can be provided anonymously.
Indeed, let’s apprehend them so that the presiding judge or magistrate may proceed with their release on the same day.
Sometimes I wonder why police bother to apprehend them, and what for?
I have an idea but that would be antisocial as them young persons needed help many years ago. Where was the Goverment then?
Thanks for an excellent article by the Hello Care team