A Melbourne cafe has spoken out on social media after a confronting, seemingly unprovoked attack on a staff member left her with a chipped tooth.
La Vallee, located in Essendon, shared CCTV footage online on Tuesday showing the moment a woman lashed out at a waitress just before 1pm on Friday.
In the vision, the woman, wearing a black jumper, jeans and oversized sunglasses, appears to brush past the staff member, who is carrying multiple plates, before suddenly striking them from her hands.
The force of the impact caused the plates to hit the waitress in the face, chipping her tooth, as the woman calmly continued walking down the street.
“We are beyond shocked at the abhorrent behaviour of this grown woman,” staff wrote on Tuesday.
“If you know her please send us a private message, we need assistance in identifying this individual.
“This incident led to one of our beautiful staff members CHIPPING THEIR TOOTH from the plate she pushed into her face.
“We love being part of the community in Essendon, and we hope our followers can share, tag and suggest this to local friends so we can get some justice AND hold this person accountable.”
The footage sparked widespread outrage online, with commenters condemning the woman’s actions.
“This behaviour needs to be stamped out. It doesn’t belong here,” one wrote.
“Absolutely shocking behaviour, so sad to see,” another person commented.
“Totally not okay. Hopefully someone recognises her,” a third added.
Amid the backlash, some members of the community offered support, including a Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio that proposed a “12-month self-defence membership free of charge” and a local dentist who volunteered to repair the damage at no cost.
“We attend there on a regular basis and they’re absolutely shocked. Absolutely grateful for the dentist who is actually offered to fix the staff’s tooth for free. What a beautiful kind gesture,” one woman wrote.