BRAZEN youths are endangering lives as rock throwing incidents increase in Mount Isa.
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Police say there has been an increase of kids throwing rocks at moving vehicles recently in the suburb of Pioneer.
A delivery driver, who didn’t want to idientifed, expressed his outrage at children throwing rocks at his vehicle last week.
The most recent incident occurred at 3:15am on Wednesday at the corner of East and Rebecca Street.
The delivery driver said he drove past a group of five youths when one of them threw a rock, hitting the rear window.
“The little bugger was a good shot and if the glass had broken it would have hit me in the head,” the driver said.
“It is upsetting because these kids were younger than my own kids and they are roaming the streets at 3am in the morning.
“You really have to wonder what the prospects are for kids on the street at that hour of the morning and it’s not an isolated incident. Delivery drivers constantly see young kids on the street late at night or early in the morning.”
The delivery driver said it was not the first time a rock had been thrown at one of his fleet’s vehicles.
“I just don’t know why they would want to throw a rock at a car.
“If they hadn’t chucked the rock, I wouldn’t have called the police.’’
The driver said police arrived in less than a minute and he was later advised that the kids were picked up by police.
Mount Isa Mayor Tony McGrady asked the question ‘where were the parents of the kids that are roaming the streets at all hours’.
“I have a major concern about young people roaming the streets in the Pioneer area, when I have been walking about 5:30am I have seen about 50 to 150 kids in groups,” he said.
“There is a problem, the problem in my opinion rests with the parents.”
Cr McGrady said about a year ago the Mount Isa City Council introduced a scheme where if a youth walked into a shop between school hours without a note they would not be allowed to buy anything, however when the council was accused of being racist the scheme was dropped.
“It is a vicious cycle and it is an issue that needs to be address,” Cr McGrady said.
“These are kids who we are trying to protect them and their future.’’
Cr McGrady said he believed that equality started in the classroom.
Mount Isa Officer in Charge Col Henderson said six reported incidents have been reported of youths throwing rocks at moving cars in the last year with three of those reports being made last week.
There were more than 15 reported broken windows broken due to entering a vehicle to take property.
“Before Christmas from rodeo onwards last year there were a number of reports of kids throwing rocks at passing cars from the river bed,’’ he said.
‘‘Since the New Year we have had six incidents three of those being in the last few days.
“Be mindful of it happening near the Pioneer area and if it does happen contact police.“If we know times and dates we can have patrols in the area to cover that.”