One morning, Michael Voss was on his usual coffee run when he found himself confronting a teenage car thief after witnessing a dramatic crash involving a stolen Mercedes.

Remarkably, Voss has since developed an unexpected friendship with the young offender and has taken on a mentoring role to guide the 16-year-old following the incident.

Back in August 2024, the 50-year-old football coach was making his way to the Barton Milk Bar in Hawthorn for a coffee when a grey Mercedes careened onto the sidewalk, ending up on its side.

Fortunately, the crash didn’t result in any injuries. Police soon arrived on the scene and apprehended the teenager involved.

On the podcast Footy and Friends, Voss humorously remarked that he wouldn’t leap into action again as he did that day. He mentioned that he’s been engaging with the teenager to better understand his background.

Carlton coach MIchael Voss has revealed that he has taken up a mentoring role for a teenager who he performed a citizen’s arrest on in 2024

It came after two young men had crashed a Mercedes while Voss (left) was on his coffee run  

“Reflecting on the whole incident, I wouldn’t do that again,” Voss admitted during the podcast, recalling his impromptu citizen’s arrest. “I’ll leave such matters to our emergency services. They excel at what they do, and I’ll let them handle it from now on.”

‘What it did actually do was hook up an unexpected connection,’ Voss added.

‘I was reached out [to from] a mentor of his that he was assigned. He sent the email out requesting to meet. I thought: “Yeah, why not?”

‘He’s obviously a 16-year-old young man that’s trying to find his way and did the wrong thing, and [I thought] I’d really love to hear his version of events.’

‘So I just enjoyed [hearing] about his story and his background and where he’s from, and I’m not going to go into any of those sorts of details.

‘But hopefully there were some things that gave him a little bit of motivation to follow through on a few things that he’s been able to do. I’m hoping that goes in the direction that he wants in his life.

‘It was an unexpected reach-out, and I don’t think they were expecting an answer.’

Voss then reflected on his wider role as an AFL coach, adding that he wasn’t just a tactician but a mentor as well.

Voss managed to tackle one of the offenders and make a dramatic citizen’s arrest

The 50-year-old retired from professional footy back in 2006 and, after a brief spell working for Channel 10’s commentary team, jumped into coaching.

He’d first join up with the West Coast Eagles as an assistant coach for the 2008 season, before succeeding Leigh Matthews as the Brisbane Lions’ senior coach at the end of that year.

Voss stayed with his former club for four years before moving to take over as an assistant at Port Adelaide under Ken Hinkley in 2015.

After seven years with the Power, Voss returned to take up a senior coaching role, being appointed Carlton president in 2022.

‘What we do [as AFL coaches], really, at the end of the day, we mentor young men, we mentor young people,’ Voss said.

‘And I think what I love the most about coaching is just being able to see people get what they want; that magic moment when you have that realisation and someone finally gets it.

‘They haven’t got it for a while but then they learn a craft. That’s what lights me up, to be able to see that.

‘So I feel like that whole club coaching is great, but I look for those little wins in people that just make you feel a little bit special about why you’re actually doing what you’re doing.

‘Sometimes they come later, sometimes you don’t even know you’ve done it.’