Two men who allegedly assaulted a number of Summernats patrons while working as crowd safety staff at the festival in January have been charged and will face court later this month.
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The alleged assault occurred on January 6, after a group of men walked into the Summernats cruise route, where only vehicles can enter, and were confronted by security and crowd safety staff.
A 30-year-old Banks man and a 33-year-old Chifley man, who were both working as crowd safety staff, then allegedly assaulted several patrons.
Video footage that was circulated online shows violent confrontation between crowd safety staff and patrons, where punches were thrown.
Police said they reviewed CCTV and mobile phone camera footage and applied for search warrants "in relation to persons of interest related to the assaults".
They used the warrants to access Chifley and Banks properties on February 9 and seized several items relating to the incident.
Officers then arrested a 30-year-old man at the Banks residence.
The 33-year-old man was arrested days later, on February 12, when he presented himself to Gungahlin Police Station.
The 30-year-old will face a total of six charges, including three counts of recklessly threatening to kill a person, two counts of joint commission recklessly inflicting actual bodily harm, and one count of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm.
The 33-year-old has been charged with one count of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm.
The car festival has attracted controversy in previous years over patron behaviour.
Summernats co-owner Andy Lopez said he was unable to discuss matters which were before the court and under police investigation but added that they conducted a review of security every year.
"I'm not aware of this particular police matter," he told The Canberra Times.
"When we conduct a review we have a really transparent look at what's happened, the systems that we had in place already to deal with those, and look at whether we implemented those processes as well as we could have done.
"We also look at whether there were external factors we just didn't predict and with the benefit of hindsight we can see better know and use all of that for more effective planning moving forward."
The two crowd safety staff are scheduled to face court on March 21.
Police said they are continuing investigations into assaults at Summernats 2024, with further arrests anticipated.
Peter Brewer
Telling the truth and holding agencies accountable must matter to us all. It's also important to tell the story well, and factually. Contact me at peter.brewer@canberratimes.com.au
Telling the truth and holding agencies accountable must matter to us all. It's also important to tell the story well, and factually. Contact me at peter.brewer@canberratimes.com.au
Natalie Vikhrov
Natalie Vikhrov reports on federal politics and public service for The Canberra Times. Prior to this, she spent several years covering human rights in Eastern Europe, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Get in touch via natalie.vikhrov@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
Natalie Vikhrov reports on federal politics and public service for The Canberra Times. Prior to this, she spent several years covering human rights in Eastern Europe, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Get in touch via natalie.vikhrov@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
