Wow, this is so scary and what brave shop owners these Asian Aussies are. On Sunday March 6, Hobart takeaway shop owners Daisy Huang and her husband were confronted by a machete wielding thief who entered their store. The man who was wearing a mask and dark colored clothes, entered the Huang’s Hawthorn Drive store in Kingston in an attempt to steal cigarettes.
As you watch the videos, you can see the thief come in wielding the machete and hit the counter with it, obviously threatening Daisy and her husband.
As he makes his way behind the counter to steal cigarettes, Daisy and her husband use that split second to run out to escape. As the thief bends down behind the counter at the cupboards where the cigarettes are stored and starts to cram as many as he could into his bag and pocket, Daisy’s husband quickly and bravely runs back in to grab the keys ( as the thief is distracted) behind the counter and runs back out – locking the door behind him.
Moments later, the thief tries to get out and realises he is locked in and bashes the door with the machete to no avail. He then bashes it with his body and kicks it till the glass on the door window breaks, climbs out and runs off.
Tasmania Police detective inspector Michael Smith, said around 20 ounces of cigarettes was stolen and no money with the store damage bill to be around $1,000. They are still looking for the thief and are asking for witnesses who may have seen him in the Moonah and Kingston area.
And how about the Huang’s, what were their feelings during this ordeal? Here are a few things Daisy Huang said to ABC News in an interview:
“He’s saying, ‘I’m robbing this shop, give me the money’,”
“I was shocked at that time.”
“He noticed that we locked him in and he just smashed the window and ran away finally,”
“I was totally black in my mind, in my brain.”
Clearly, this was a crime of opportunity, but the question evades on whether the Huang’s were targeted because they are Asian and the stereotype that Asians are easy targets one of the reasons behind the thief choosing their store as the one to rob?
What do you think? Let us know..
Header image screenshot from GIPHY videos