Days Before Allegedly Causing Thousands in Damage at Vietnam Café, Man Posted Emotional Plea for Help
A Mandurah man accused of causing thousands of dollars in damage to a Vietnam café during a brutal outburst pleaded for help on social media just days before.
A Mandurah man accused of causing thousands of dollars in damage to a Vietnam café during a violent outburst pleaded for help on social media just days before the incident.
Shaymus Lilly, who recently moved to Hoi An, is said to be the shirtless tourist captured on CCTV during a 30-minute frenzy at Ge Café in Da Nang.
During the rampage, the video, shows an angry tourist sending equipment flying using a wooden chair.
He storms around the venue, sending panicked customers running, and smashes a chair through a window.
A laptop was destroyed and thrown out of the broken window and the riot ended with the man fighting customers outside.
There was about $500m VMD worth of damage done to the café (about $27,000AUD).
The man alleged to be behind the outburst, Mr Lilly is the owner of brand agency Shaped.
The 34-year-old shared a live video on Facebook four days earlier, in it a shirtless Mr Lilly can be heard shouting: “Help, spare my life,” after a police officer arrives.
“Look my name up on the web, Shaymus Lilly,” he continues.
“Shaymus Lilly needs help. They’re not police, they’re mafia.”
After this incident, Mr Lilly shared a post on Facebook writing: “I need help”.
In the comments Mr Lilly added: “I am of sound mind,” and “I will not resist authorities. I want to go back to Australia.”
A month earlier, Mr Lilly took to the Expats in Da Nang group on Facebook to share a safety warning.
Mr Lilly began by thanking the community for helping him after he was allegedly assaulted by a fake Grab driver who left him with a brain bleed and broken bones.
The former Mandurah Catholic College student then went on the claim the owner of a Hoi An nightclub followed him home after a brand meeting and took photos of him sleeping.
Mr Lilly accompanied this with photos of his face showing two black eyes.
He then went on to add that he would be leaving Vietnam next week.
In another post to the group Mr Lilly warns the ex-pat community against drugs and crime, writing: “The people of Hoi An are beautiful. The Vietnamese are beautiful. The expat community is beautiful. I mean that.
“But beneath the surface, there’s an undercurrent — crime, drugs, and people pretending to be something they’re not. I won’t name anyone. That’s not my role. What I will say is this: trust your own judgment, and pay attention.”
Floods of Vietnamese locals have taken to Mr Lilly’s social media following the incident at Ge Café asking him to take responsibility for the damage.
In a post on Facebook Ge Café’s owners described the ‘serious incident’ that occurred on May 29.
A translation of the post, which was written in Vietnamese, reveals that a man entered the restaurant about 11.45pm.
He went to a table and was approached by café staff who told him orders had to placed at the counter.
An Australian man has been detained in Da Nang, Vietnam, after causing more than $20,000 worth of damage during a hotel rampage that included smashing furniture and a coffee machine, and allegedly attempting to take a hostage.
(Source: 7NEWS)
An Australian man has been detained in Da Nang, Vietnam, after causing more than $20,000 worth of damage during a hotel rampage that included smashing furniture and a coffee machine, and allegedly attempting to take a hostage.
The post continued, saying another customer tried to help the man by offering him their mobile phone to help translate the conversation.
The man refused to hand the device back to the customer and began scrolling through their messages.
“Our customer being quite mild-mannered didn’t argue and asked the staff member to call security due to the suspicious behaviour,” the post read.
“But before the staff could run to call the security guard, he stood up, started taking off his shirt, smashing customers phones and telling everyone they had 10 seconds to leave the store.
“He then proceeded to vandalise the place, destroying much of the bar equipment, decor, tempered glass doors, and many customer belongings inside at the time, such as laptops and phones.
“Many customers on the second and third floors were trapped. About 5 minutes after the incident, the police arrived in front of the store.
“At this point, the suspect tried to escape and ran to the second floor, where he got into a scuffle with several customers and grabbed one male customer by the neck.”
The man was arrested by local police after midnight, and another video shows them marching a man wearing only underwear out of the venue and into a police car.
In a statement provided to The Nightly, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said consular assistance was being provided to the man and his family.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian believed to be detained in Vietnam,” a spokesperson told the Nightly.
Photos shared in a separate post show the extensive trail of destruction left behind with multiple windows shatters, equipment smashed on the floor and glass covering the ground.
In a post on Facebook, Ge Café shared that it would reopen on Wednesday.
“Thank you everyone for always caring, encouraging and accompanying Gé in the past days,” the post read.
“It is a great source of motivation for us to quickly resolve the aftermath of the incident and return to normal activities.
“Ge would like to thank all the offers of support that everyone has sent. However, we ask not to receive any financial or material support. Just need people to visit and continue to accompany Ge, that’s enough.”
According to Vietnamese media Mr Lilly was taken into custody for questioning but the investigation is ongoing.
