Background of gang crimes in Victoria

AFRICAN YOUTH GANG CRIME IN MELBOURNE

* January 10 - Two service stations robbed in Melbourne's north by a group of masked youths of African appearance, armed with hammers and a knife.

* January 4 - A Hillside woman, 59, was slapped across the face as a dozen young men ransacked and stole items from her house in a home invasion.

* January 4 - The same group allegedly hit a 17-year-old boy on the legs with a baseball bat at Taylors Hill, and assaulted and robbed a 16-year-old boy at Cairnlea.

* December 20 - A house party at a Werribee AirBnB property spirals out of control, with police pelted with rocks. Neighbours sheltered in homes to avoid the youths who trashed the rental house and smashed car windows.

* December 13 - A large gang of youths bashed and robbed beachgoers and fought at Melbourne's St Kilda Beach. The gang outnumbered police and some threw chairs at the nearby McDonalds.

* Throughout 2015 and 2016 - The Apex gang is allegedly responsible for a spate of aggravated burglaries, car thefts and assaults across Melbourne's southeast.

* March 12, 2016 - Police blamed Apex gang members for picking fights with Moomba Festival goers at Federation Square, where officers were forced to use capsicum spray.

* 2012 - Earliest reports of the Apex gang, originally comprising young people from the South Sudanese community in Dandenong.