A 16-year-old boy has been arrested after a stolen car allegedly struck a woman near the Melbourne Marathon route.
Police said the teenager was driving a Ford Escape east along the tram tracks on Flinders Street when it hit the woman at the junction with Elizabeth Street at about 10.45am on Sunday.
The woman, who is in her 50s and from Southbank, was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital with upper-body injuries. She was reported to be in a stable condition.
Police allege the driver failed to stop and made a U-turn outside Flinders Street Station before continuing along Flinders Lane. He is believed to have then hit several unoccupied parked cars.
The incident took place close to the Melbourne Marathon Festival route, with more than 60,000 runners taking part.
Kirk Pearson, the owner of Project Zero Coffee, said the scene was “frantic” and “confronting”.
“A car just came screaming through the intersection and hit someone and then sped off towards Federation Square,” he said.
Mr Pearson said the driver appeared to realise the road ahead was blocked by the marathon and turned back.
“They weren’t slowing down and the bystanders actually dragged the injured person off the road so that she couldn’t get hit again,” he said.
He said the white SUV was badly damaged and recalled hearing several women screaming as the injured pedestrian lay in the road.
The teenager, who is from the Greater Dandenong area, was arrested a short time later on Beaconsfield Parade in Albert Park and is expected to be interviewed by police.
Police allege the Ford Escape had been stolen from a business on Luster Circuit in Cranbourne South at about 2am on Sunday.
Authorities said the incident was not being treated as an act of terrorism or a targeted attack.
