Man arrested and female accomplice still at large
By Ben Talintyre and Freddy Pawle For Daily Mail Australia
07:31 19 May 2023, updated 07:33 19 May 2023
- Man arrested and charged for stabbing of retail worker
- David Jones worker was stabbed as robber stole designer handbag
A man who allegedly stabbed a sales clerk who tried to stop an alleged robbery of a designer handbag at the David Jones Emporium in Melbourne has been charged.
It is alleged a male staff member confronted a man and a woman as they attempted to steal the handbag from the Little Bourke Street department store shortly before midday on May 16.
As the Saint Laurent sales assistant tried to stop the man he allegedly stabbed him in the arm.
The male then allegedly fled with his female accomplice and the staff member was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
On Friday, detectives raided two properties in Maidstone and Ascot Vale, Victoria, and arrested two men.
In the search police also seized a firearm and a quantity of drugs including heroin and amphetamine.
The 19-year-old Maidstone man was charged in relation to the alleged David Jones stabbing.
He was charged with intentionally causing injury, multiple counts of theft, firearm offences, drug possession and committing an indictable offence while on bail.
He will appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday evening.
An 18-year-old Ascot Vale man was also arrested on matters unrelated to the alleged stabbing.
Police say he is assisting them with their inquiries.
Victorian Police continue to search for the identity and whereabouts of an alleged female accomplice in the stabbing incident.
Following the incident David Jones released a statement stating they continue to work on bolstering their store security.
‘For David Jones the safety of our team members, our concession partner team members and our customers is paramount,’ the statement said.
‘Our thoughts are with the team member and we are assisting police with their investigation into this incident.
‘Across the country retailers are seeing increasing incidents of theft and violence towards workers.
‘This is completely unacceptable, and we continue to partner with the police and have taken appropriate measures with security across our store network.’