‘Give me my stuff back’: Disturbing vision captures latest example of Victoria’s retail violence

Yelling in frustration and smashing her feet into the glass facade of a Melbourne boutique, a woman’s brazen alleged daylight burglary is the latest example of retail violence in a crisis gripping Victoria.

The woman was captured on video kicking the locked glass doors of Ji Studio on Elizabeth Street in the CBD about 3pm on Saturday, and using a barrier stand to try to force her way in, yelling, “give me my stuff back, c---”.

After the door gave way, a crowd gathered outside the boutique, watching in shock as the woman pushed through the door, and allegedly gathered cash and clothes inside.

The clothes were heaped in her arm as she squeezed her way back out the broken glass door, then yelled into the store a final time before allegedly walking off with the haul.

Police are investigating the incident. A spokeswoman said a worker sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the alleged aggravated burglary.

Workers initially locked the woman out after she allegedly tried to steal clothes.

“The offender forced her way back inside armed with a dangerous article before she assaulted a female staff member,” a police spokeswoman said.

“The woman stole money and clothing items before fleeing the store.”

Victoria has become Australia’s retail theft capital, as workers are also forced to contend with a crisis of abuse, violence and knife crime.

The state accounts for almost 35 per cent of Australia’s total retail crime incidents, recording 60 per cent more incidents than any other state, according to the Australian Retailers Association.

One in 10 incidents involves assault, physical abuse, weapons, burglary, aggression or similar behaviour.

Victorian retail union boss Michael Donovan said the incident at the Elizabeth Street boutique showed exactly why his union was demanding the Allan government “deliver the tougher penalties it promised”.

The government has vowed to introduce laws by the end of this year to punish criminals who assault retail workers.

“Waiting for Christmas as the premier has promised is too long. This latest attack shows retail workers and shoppers need proper protection now,” said Donovan, Victorian secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association.

“If it was good enough to bring forward the machete ban, then surely the time for the government to act on its pledges to retail workers is now.”

Retail unions are also pushing for workplace protection orders that act like apprehended violence orders to protect workers from violent criminals.

“The [union] will continue to call this out until every worker can feel safe at work and every attack is met with real, concrete consequences,” Donovan said.

A state government spokeswoman described Saturday’s incident as “disturbing and unacceptable”, and noted that – alongside the new laws being introduced later this year – a dedicated worker protection group was considering other measures.

“No retail workers should have to experience this and [they] deserve to feel safe when they go to work,” the government spokeswoman said.

Acting Melbourne Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell said Saturday’s alleged behaviour “has no place on the streets of Melbourne”.

“I am disgusted that people working in and visiting our city have witnessed this aggressive criminal act,” Campbell said.

She added that, in a first for local government, the City of Melbourne is hiring community safety officers who will “provide a visible safety presence on the streets of Melbourne and a deterrent to this type of behaviour” from November.

Organised thieves have repeatedly targeted Melbourne’s luxury fashion stores with ram-raids in recent months, while the city’s CBD is a “hot spot” for criminal activity.

Police urged anyone with further information about the alleged Elizabeth Street burglary to come forward.

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