An IGA employee, Vatsal, was left “very distressed” after he was threatened during an armed robbery at an IGA in Kew.
It was 8:30 on an ordinary Tuesday night when a group of four young men entered the doors to the IGA. As the only worker there he was “shocked” and “shaken up”, he said.
“One of the four men charged towards me”, he said. The man then threatened him with an axe and demanded cigarettes.
“At this moment I was terrified and all I did was back into an aisle”.
“I remember being forced to the ground,” he said.
Another man, held a machete before he attempted to open the draws behind the register.
Vatsal was then forced to open the high end liquor cabinet.
“I felt I had to do what they said, or else I would have been hurt,” he said.
“Their faces were covered, and they were holding multiple Woolworths bags each, “ he said.
“I recall the four young men putting things in the bags they carried but I would have never known how much it would have been,” he said.
It was later found the four young men took “$800 worth of alcohol off the shelves and placed it in the bags they carried”.
“An electric scooter was also stolen,” he said.
The terrifying incident was over in a little more than a minute but to Vatsal the “time went so slow”.
As Vatsal was the only shop assistant present at the time of the incident two workers were called to offer support and comfort to him. They arrived at the IGA and heard the details.
Vatsal took two weeks off work due to the severity of the incident.
“I am thankful nothing has changed, just very unfortunate,” he said.
Following his return from his two week absence, Kew customers should be pleased to know he does not feel unsafe in Kew.
The incident has not changed Vatsal’s perception on his suburb but only made him more aware of his surroundings.
“My employees and I feel comfortable now that we know the doors have been locked two hours early,” he said, to prevent possibly threatening visitors from entering the store.
“Management has also worked together to create preventative measures,” he said.
“We used to have the doors on automatic and now they are usually locked”.
