IGA Spotswood staff left ‘shaken’ after third alleged incident in nine days

A man has been arrested after the owner of a family-owned supermarket in Melbourne’s west was allegedly assaulted by a thief in the third incident in nine days.

The IGA on Hudsons Rd, Spotswood was allegedly targeted three times in nine days.

A man has been arrested after the owner of a family-owned supermarket in Melbourne’s west was allegedly struck to the head by a thief.

Staff were left shaken after the third alleged attack in nine days.

Owner and manager of IGA Spotswood Divye Ratam was allegedly hit just below the eye with what he believed was a bag full of cans by a man allegedly attempting to steal alcohol from the store.

Mr Ratam said he approached the man, who allegedly tried to leave the store without paying, about 1.45pm on Thursday.

“We were already on edge because of last week,” he said.

“He was hanging around the street of some time so we were quite wary of him.

“I told him to either return it or pay for it. This incident was a lot more violent. He then grabbed a hammer off the street and looking at his body language I thought he was going to hit me again.

“I disengaged straight away”.

Spotswood IGA owner Divye Ratam was allegedly assaulted by a man in his shop with what he believes was a bag full of cans. Picture: Athos Sirianos

The man fled the scene after a witness rushed to Mr Ratam’s aid.

A 32-year-old man of no fixed address was arrested a short time later. He is assisting police with their inquiries.

This comes after the IGA was hit with separate reports of alleged burglary and assault on the same day last week.

Two incidents reported to police on July 5 had left staff “shaken”.

The first alleged incident occurred at 9am where a worker was allegedly threatened with a knife by a man who entered the store and stole cash, cigarettes and alcohol.

No one was injured.

The Herald Sun was told the worker had been given the week off to recover.

In a second incident, a man entered the store later that day about 4.40pm, where he allegedly pushed a staff member after a confrontation.

No injuries were reported and it is unknown if any items were taken from the store.

The IGA’s owner and manager Divye Ratam said staff were “shaken” but overwhelmed by the support from the local community.

“I want to shout out the local community and the police who have been fantastic with us since this happened,” Mr Ratam said.

“We’ve had people checking in quite a bit. We’re a close knit community here and having people come in to see if we’re okay is really good for our morale at a tough time”.