Alarming footage has emerged showing a Woolworths employee being held at knifepoint during a brazen armed robbery, in front of shocked shoppers.
The mother-of-three had just started her Sunday morning shift at a store in Western Australia in September.
Footage released by the supermarket giant showed the woman at the checkout register serving customers when she was approached from behind by a masked man who tapped her on the shoulder.
‘I thought it was a friend or someone I knew so I didn’t really think “danger”,’ she recalled.
‘I turned to see who it was and was met with an unfamiliar face in a black ski mask and a knife. A really big knife.
‘I looked up at my colleague who had brought over a basket and time froze. I can remember thinking ‘is this actually happening?’ and the look on her face … ‘yep, this is happening’.’
CCTV showed the man holding the knife to the frightened employee’s throat as she complied with his demands and opened the cash register.
‘My brain stopped,’ she said.
A Woolworths employee had just started her recent Sunday morning shift at a WA store when she was held at knifepoint
‘After what felt like an eternity, I opened the till. As soon as it popped open … he grabbed the money.
‘It felt surreal. Like a dream. My body was moving on autopilot.’
The woman recalled feeling calm during the terrifying ordeal but began shaking uncontrollably when the thief fled.
‘My colleague got my phone for me and I immediately rang my husband,’ she said.
‘It was all just a shock. I couldn’t believe that it had happened, let alone to me.’
The traumatised employee has since returned to work, where she now feels a ‘lot more wary and uncomfortable when someone walks behind me’.
Woolworths says the incident is indicative of similar attacks in retail stores across the country.
The supermarket giant is one of 22 major retailers leading calls for federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and state jurisdictions to implement new Workplace Protection Orders to address soaring rates of retail crime.
The traumatised mother-of-three is now fearful of anyone walking behind her
Recommendations include dedicated police task forces, reforms to prevent repeat offenders from entering stores, and facial recognition technology.
An estimated 800,000 crime-related incidents took place in stores in 2024.
A quarter of those incidents involved some form of violence, intimidation, threats, or physical or verbal abuse, according to the Australian Retailers Association.
‘It’s frightening to see the unacceptable level of violence and aggression that our team members are impacted by on a daily basis,’ Woolworths Head of Violence Prevention Sarah Faorlin told the Daily Telegraph.
Australian Retailers Association chief executive Chris Rodwell want to see the retail crime rate halved within the next five years.
‘That won’t happen without a co-ordinated approach,’ he warned.
‘Right now the trend is going in the wrong direction.’
