Five young motorbike riders who fled after one of them hit a woman outside a Melbourne shopping centre need to show some maturity and compassion by coming forward, police say.
A 34-year-old mother-of-two is in a critical condition in hospital with head injuries after she was hit in the Carrum Downs Shopping Centre car park on Wednesday.
There were four motorbikes being ridden in the area - one carrying a pillion passenger - and the woman was hit by the second bike to zoom through a pedestrian crossing.
"The second vehicle, which carried a pillion passenger on board, has collided very forcefully with this young woman and she has hit the ground rather heavily, causing very severe head injuries," Detective Inspector Bernie Rankin told reporters on Thursday.
The bike's pillion passenger then ran off through the car park while the rider involved in the crash and three others took off on their bikes.
The woman has children aged two and three.
Det Insp Rankin said all five men would have been aware of the accident and the high likelihood of serious injury to the woman, but fled anyway.
A number of witnesses in the car park rushed to the woman's aid.
"Unfortunately, our four guys on the motorcycle and the pillion passenger didn't view the incident with the same degree of compassion as these other witnesses in the area did," Det Insp Rankin said.
"I think it would reflect rather better on them if they showed some remorse and gave themselves up to the local police station."
Det Insp Rankin said there was an incident just before the crash that also didn't reflect well on the young men.
He wouldn't go into detail, but said it involved motorcyclists playing chicken with a cyclist.
The five young men are believed to be local to the area.
