Three youths have been arrested over an aggravated armed robbery at the American Convenience store on Liverpool Street in Hobart yesterday evening.
Police allege the trio entered the store wearing face coverings just after 6pm on Tuesday, assaulted a male staff member with a hammer and stole the till containing cash before fleeing on foot towards Mathers Lane.
The staff member received medical treatment at the Royal Hobart Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and has since been discharged.
The store was closed today because staff said they were too traumatised to be there.
The three youths, aged 14, 16 and 16, will be detained in custody while investigations continue, with no charges laid as of yet.
Footage obtained by Pulse shows the masked group entering the store around 6pm as the attendant stood behind the counter.
Two of the youths allegedly began punching the worker before one reached for the cash register, took its key and removed the entire till before running from the store.
Two customers were browsing the drink fridges when the group entered and could be seen watching from a distance as two other staff members emerged from a back room.
The whole ordeal was over in less than 40 seconds.
Police attended the scene and remained on site for several hours, cordoning off the doorway with tape as they combed the premises.
Government minister Bridget Archer said she happened to be walking past the shop when police were responding.
“I’d like to pay tribute to their work and the work that they were doing in supporting that person in those terrible circumstances,” she said.
“There is no excuse for this.”
“Our police service does an amazing job and we’ll continue to take that approach in relation to policing these issues.”
Anyone with information can call police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online at crimestopperstas.com.au quoting offence report 813983.
