A Melbourne café has released disturbing footage of a random attack that left a staff member with a chipped tooth.
Video shared online on Tuesday by La Vallee shows a woman walking past the Keilor Road venue just before 1 pm on Friday.
Wearing a black jumper, jeans and large sunglasses, the woman appears to almost collide with a staff member who is carrying several plates.
In an instant, she lashes out and knocks the plates from the waitress’s hands. One of the plates strikes the worker in the face, chipping her tooth. The woman then continues walking down the street without stopping.
Staff said they were stunned by the incident.
“We are beyond shocked at the abhorrent behaviour of this grown woman,” they wrote in a post on Tuesday.
“If you know her, please send us a private message. We need help identifying this individual. This incident led to one of our staff members chipping a tooth after a plate was pushed into her face.”
They added that they value being part of the Essendon community and asked locals to share the footage to help identify the woman and hold her accountable.
A manager told news.com.au that the staff member was okay but shaken.
“The woman also directed expletives at our staff member. Unfortunately, this is not the only issue we have experienced recently,” the manager said.
Speaking on radio after the incident, another staff member described the aftermath.
“She was pretty traumatised. She was in pain, covered in egg, and had blood coming from her mouth. Her top three teeth were damaged. One was broken and the other two were displaced, so she needed treatment to fix them,” they said.
Social media users quickly condemned the attack, including billionaire Adrian Portelli.
“This behaviour needs to be stamped out. It doesn’t belong here,” he wrote.
Others echoed the sentiment, with one commenter calling it “absolutely shocking behaviour” and “so sad to see.”
