Two men – a 30-year-old from Banks and a 33-year-old from Chifley – will face the ACT Magistrates Court later this month charged in relation to assaults that occurred at the Summernats festival earlier this year, ACT Policing announced.

About 4.35pm on Saturday, 6 January, a group of men entered the Summernats ‘cruise route’ – a designated vehicle-only area – on foot, before security and crowd safety staff confronted them.

Police allege that the 30-year-old man and the 33-year-old man, who were both working as crowd safety staff, assaulted several patrons.

Following a review of CCTV and mobile phone camera footage, police applied for and were granted search warrants in relation to persons of interest related to the assaults.

On Friday, 9 February, police executed warrants at residences in Chifley and Banks, and seized items relating to the alleged offences.

The 30-year-old man was arrested at the Banks residence, while the 33-year-old man presented himself to Gungahlin Police Station on 12 February and was arrested there.

The 30-year-old will face six charges: three counts of reckless threat to kill a person, two counts of joint commission recklessly inflict actual bodily harm, and one count of recklessly inflict grievous bodily harm.

The 33-year-old has been charged with one count of recklessly inflict grievous bodily harm.

Both men are scheduled to appear in court on 21 March.  

Police investigations into the assaults at Summernats 2024 remain ongoing, and they anticipate further arrests.