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Updated February 4, 2026 — 1:16pm,first published February 4, 2026 — 9:47am
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It was an attack so brutal that it prompted one seasoned police officer to say the offenders had no humanity.
Their behaviour, he said, reminded him of dogs – rabid dogs.
The St Kilda McDonald’s where the 17-year-old was attacked.Angus DelaneyAbout 10pm on Tuesday night, opposite the landmark triangle in the heart of St Kilda, two males – one a 17-year-old boy – headed to McDonald’s for a late bite.
As their rented white Kia from Flexicar headed into the drive-through on The Esplanade, three men in a stolen grey Mazda rammed them from behind.
One man leapt from the Mazda, wielding a meat cleaver, pounding on the Kia and slashing the 17-year-old in the passenger’s side with the blade.
The attack was so frenzied that the knife, which was left at the scene, broke in two.
The Kia’s occupants pulled out from McDonald’s onto The Esplanade, with the Mazda in hot pursuit.
Witness Joseph Ferguson was about to enter the fast-food restaurant when the Mazda went “flying out [of] McDonald’s and skidded over the tram tracks and started to rear-end the Kia”.
Ferguson could see from the Kia’s dented rear bumper that the Mazda had already targeted it near the McDonald’s drive-through.
The Kia tried to escape down Acland Street, but the Mazda stalked the car the entire way.
When the pair in the Kia reached St Leonards Avenue, they came across a dead end.
Police on the scene in Acland Street, where two males were relentlessly pursued. Nine NewsLocals heard tyres screeching and saw both cars speeding down the quiet, leafy street.
“The first [car] was driving fast, but not, like, insane. I could only see it [from behind my fence] trying to work out how to get out, because it realised it was a dead end,” a witness who did not want to be named told The Age. “And then I have seen the other car flying down the street.”
Occupants of the cornered Kia jumped out of the car and tried to flee on foot – but the three pursuers dumped their stolen Mazda and took control of the empty Kia.
They then ran over the injured teen with his own car – twice.
Video taken by witnesses shows the Kia, with a crumpled rear bumper, repeatedly reversing back and forward on the street.
A witness said the attackers also got out of the car and stabbed the victim in the face. Both the victim and his companion – the original driver of the Kia – managed to get away.
Two of the attackers, now in the Kia, raced off, while a third jumped a nearby fence to escape before police could arrive. The car was later found dumped on nearby Fitzroy Street.
The Kia’s driver ran to the end of the cul-de-sac and jumped a fence, said a witness.
Police said the attackers behaved like rabid dogs. Nine News“Clearly, he was from the car that was being rammed. He was pretty frantic, terrified, but didn’t stop. He just said: ‘Call the police,’” the witness said.
The 17-year-old was found with serious injuries on St Leonards Avenue and taken to The Alfred hospital in a non-life-threatening condition.
Detective Inspector Mark Patrick said it was a sickening attack.
“These are serious crimes. The offenders have no humanity,” Patrick said. “[It’s] behaviour like dogs, like rabid dogs.”
Ferguson, who witnessed the Mazda rear-ending the Kia near McDonald’s, said crime like this had become more prevalent in Victoria, especially in St Kilda. In October, two teens were slashed with machetes at Luna Park, just 110 metres from the McDonald’s.
“As a Victorian, I think it’s almost become a normality that something happens like this once a week,” he said.
“I feel like a lot of people these days are just kind of fed up with the fact that people just keep coming up as re-offenders. And like, while we haven’t figured out a long-term solution, at least temporarily put some of these people away, just until we can figure out how to deal with them, how to help them.”
Anyone with information or CCTV footage should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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Angus Delaney is a reporter at The Age. Email him at angus.delaney@theage.com.au or contact him securely on Signal at angusdelaney.31Connect via email.