Melbourne man dies from injuries after intervening in alleged teen attack

A teenager has had his charges upgraded to include manslaughter after a good Samaritan died in an alleged assault as he came to the aid of a fellow shopkeeper.

Van Viet Truong, 60, an Asian grocer from Sunshine in Melbourne’s West, ran to the aid of a fellow business owner who was allegedly being robbed, before he was set upon on Sunday.

The innocent business owner was allegedly pushed to the ground in a scuffle with the accused thieves, hitting his head.

Truong was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for treatment but his injuries were described as “unsurvivable” by a magistrate on Tuesday, who said he had “only hours or days” left to live.

Police confirmed Truong succumbed to his injuries and died on Wednesday afternoon.

Three boys aged 12, 13 and 15 years-old from the Brimbank area, a 14-year-old girl from the Banyule area and a 14-year-old girl from the Brimbank area were each charged with affray, violent disorder, intentionally cause serious injury and intentionally cause injury.

On Thursday, the 15-year-old boy had his charges upgraded to include manslaughter.

They will appear before a children’s court at a later date. Another 13-year-old boy had his charges withdrawn.

Anyone who witnessed the incident, has footage or any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

Truong had worked at his shop for 20 years, with Premier Ben Carroll previously calling for adult punishments for the group of youths.

“I met with the chief commissioner last week and I’ve told him he’ll have every resource he needs to help us tackle violent crime,” he said at the time.

“This was terrible what occurred to this gentleman in a retail shop. There’s no tolerance for this sort of behaviour, it’s awful.”