😱 He Saw Someone in Trouble and Tried to Help — Moments Later, a Brave Man Was Fighting for His Life
A man has died after being allegedly bashed by a group of children as young as 12 after they fled from a shop with allegedly stolen goods. Grocery shop owner Van Viet Truong, 60, stepped in to help a fellow retail worker who was being robbed in Melbourne, Australia, when he was set upon by the gang of youths. He made chase when the drama unfolded last week, and was coming to the aid of a nearby employee at a shop on Hampshire Road just after 2pm when a scuffle broke out in the street. Truong appears to push one of the children before he is struck in the head. As per CCTV footage from the incident, what happened next occurred out of the view of security cameras.
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A man has died after being bashed by this group of children, police say
But, as per Victoria Police, the shopkeeper was left with significant head injuries after he was allegedly struck in the head a number of times and hit his head on the ground.
Truong was transported to hospital where he sadly died on Wednesday afternoon. Three boys aged 12, 13 and 15 years old from the Brimbank area, a 14-year-old girl from the Banyule area and a 14-year-old girl from the Brimbank area have each since been charged with affray, violent disorder, intentionally cause serious injury and intentionally cause injury. They were remanded to appear before a children’s court at a later date. Further investigations exonerated the 13-year-old boy, and his charges have since been withdrawn by police. However, in the wake of Truong’s death, Detectives from Victoria Police are now considering upgrading the charges against the children.
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Melbourne hero Van Viet Truong – who tried to stop robbery in Sunshine – has died
Magistrate Robyn Hamilton foreshadowed the 60-year-old grocery shop owner’s death, saying he had been “left in an unsurvivable situation, and it’s inevitable the charges of affray and intentionally causing serious injury will be upgraded”. “Within days or hours, that victim will die, that was the grim message from a magistrate at a children’s court,” she said. Magistrate Hamilton added the alleged actions of the children had “resulted in the worst possible outcome”. As per news.com.au, one mum entered a plea to the court on Sunday through tears, begging for her 12-year-old son to be granted bail. She expressed fears for his mental health and physical safety, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Several of the teens are expected to face the court again later this week to have their bail examined.
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He is understood to have two small children of his own
Talkback host Jacqui Felgate fumed on Monday on her 3AW radio programme that the horror incident should be making front page headlines, but it had fallen by the wayside due to a wider issue with children and crime in the city that has been normalised. “We have allowed children to think that this is OK. That actions don’t have consequences and that if you commit a crime you don’t go to jail,” she said.
“And this happened because the government reacted many years ago to a death in custody and weakened bail laws. It should never have happened, but this is the unintended consequences.
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CCTV footage shows Van Viet Truong as he tried to intervene as a nearby shop was being robbed by a gang of kids
“For years, youth offenders and children don’t go to jail. They get bail and they know it. For (the government) to say we have the toughest bail laws in the country, these children … they laugh at police.” Victorian state Premier Ben Carroll has since labelled the alleged attack on the 60-year-old man as “completely unacceptable”. “This is terrible what occurred to this gentleman, there’s no tolerance for this sort of behaviour. It’s awful … it’s completely unacceptable,” Mr Carroll said. He conceded the case should be subject to the state of Victoria’s ‘adult time for violent crime’ initiative.
