A group of young skateboarders caused havoc in Wollongong on Sunday, leaving a trail of smashed property, beer bottles, terrified pedestrians and angry motorists in their wake.
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Up to 100 skaters assembled in the city, moving as a group as they rolled from one spot to another with police in pursuit.
In one incident, many dozens gathered in a loading dock behind the GPT development on Richardson Street around 2.30pm. The group allegedly took a television from outside a JB Hi-Fi storage shed and used it as an obstacle to jump over.
Two JB Hi-Fi employees asked the skaters to leave, and claim they were forced to barricade themselves in the shed as the group hurled foul-mouthed abuse and threats.
The group fled the scene after the TV was smashed by a wayward board, causing traffic havoc as they flowed out onto Market Street. Shocked shoppers and several vehicles were forced to stop in the middle of the road to avoid colliding with skaters.
Numerous empty beer bottles were left at the scene.
GPT security staff said the group had reportedly collided with a pedestrian outside the WIN Entertainment Centre earlier in the day.
Wollongong police moved the skaters on from several locations during the day, but had received no reports of any injuries to pedestrians.
Witnesses said the group had assembled in recognition of Go Skateboarding Day, an international celebration that bills itself as ‘‘the official holiday of skateboarding.’’
‘‘Skateboarders everywhere will ... skate across cities, gather in skateparks, stream into their local skate shop ... all bringing together the skateboarding community in the grind heard around the world,’’ states a description of Go Skateboarding Day on the website of the International Association of Skateboard Companies.
Go Skateboarding Day has been held worldwide on June 21 since 2004.
