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Four employees of a Melbourne grocery store were injured after three men armed with knives attacked several stores on Saturday afternoon.
At around 4pm three men entered the Dockendorff grocer on Cochrane St, Brighton and attempted to rob the shop.
The criminals demanded access to money and cigarettes before attacking three employees.
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They were treated at the scene for minor injuries, including one worker who suffered a minor hand wound.
The three men fled the scene in a white Mercedes, which police say was driven by a fourth person.
The incident was one of four aggravated robberies at supermarkets in Melbourne on Saturday.
Just 10 minutes earlier three men entered the IGA on Bernard St, Cheltenham and threatened two staff.
Surveillance video shows the knife-wielding men jumping the counter.
They asked for cigarettes and became angry when a female worker did not open the cigarette cabinet.
A fight broke out between the offenders, and a 19-year-old employee suffered minor injuries.
Police say they were called to a third supermarket on Andrew St in Mount Waverley at around 6pm where three men again threatened staff with knives.
They fled the scene in a Mercedes with stolen cigarettes.
The last stop for the group was a supermarket on Through Rd, Camberwell around 30 minutes later where staff were again threatened with a knife before the shop was robbed of cash and cigarettes.
No one was injured in the robberies in Mount Waverley and Camberwell.
The offenders have not yet been identified, but on Sunday Inspector Scott Dwyer said police had made “significant progress in the investigation”.
He said police learned the Mercedes used in the incidents had been stolen from Doncaster East on June 7.
Dwyer said he was confident arrests would be made “quickly.”
“Victoria Police recently concluded a cigarette crime operation which saw 46 arrests made in relation to 140 incidents targeting cigarettes in supermarkets, petrol stations and tobacconists’ shops,” he said.
“In line with this outcome, I am confident that numerous arrests will be made in relation to yesterday’s incidents.”
Dwyer said the incidents would have been “terrifying” for the staff involved and any witnesses.
“We don’t see this kind of offense all the time,” he said.
“The incidents … yesterday are few in number, but the fact that they happened is too many.”
Anyone with any information or relevant CCTV is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
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