Grocery Store Chaos: Security Guard and Shopper Engage in Epic Trolley Showdown
- Replies 15
It’s no surprise to anyone that the cost of living is on the rise and it’s becoming harder and harder for us Australians to manage our expenses.
But for others, the need to make their budget stretch longer sometimes leads to desperation. And a recent incident in a Perth shopping centre, when a security guard clashed with a suspected thief, illustrated this struggle to make ends meet.
A tense confrontation filled with profanity between a security guard and a shopper over a trolley full of groceries was caught on camera.
It was reported that the incident occurred in Balcatta, ‘a primarily middle-class suburb’ in the city’s north. The footage showed the security guard and woman embroiled in a ‘fierce tug of war’ over a Coles shopping trolley filled with food and soft drinks.
The shopper, suspected of stealing the items in her trolley, argued that she paid for the groceries and insisted that she show it to the female shop attendant before leaving the supermarket’s premises.
However, the adamant security guard didn’t believe her story and demanded that she return with him to the shopping centre.
An edited transcript of their conversation is as follows:
Woman: ‘I f***in showed her mate, I paid for it.’
Security guard: ‘You stop that; let’s go back there.’
Then, the security guard held onto the trolley to stop the woman from going anywhere, and their struggle nearly spilled onto the road as the argument escalated further.
Woman: ‘I showed the lady.’
Security guard: ‘No, no, no!’
The video then cuts, and it is still unclear how the incident ended. A spokesperson told reporters that the incident wasn’t reported to Western Australia Police.
The full news report was posted on the social media platform Twitter, which you can find below:
Shop owners said that incidents of theft are on the rise, with brazen thieves hiding food in bags and clothes, and police reported that stealing increased by 21 per cent in 2022.
Charities also said that the rising cost of living is ‘pushing people to the brink’. Anglicare’s Emergency Relief and Food Access Service received more than 3,700 calls for assistance in January this year alone – the highest number they’ve recorded by far.
An IGA supermarket manager shared that her store is losing thousands of dollars each week due to thieves.
‘They are really brazen,’ she told reporters.
‘The costs of living and pressures aren't helping the problem,’ she added.
This isn’t the first time a security guard working was caught on camera having a heated confrontation with a suspected shoplifter. Earlier this year, an incident happened at a Coles branch in Melbourne.
Footage showed the security guard chasing after the suspected thief and throwing punches while trying to grab him just outside the shopping centre. In other versions of the story, it was reported that the suspected thief threw the first punch, and this is what led to the physical altercation. The security guard can be heard asking the man: ‘Why do you hit people?’ You can read more details about this story here.
In another incident, the CEO of Harris Farm Markets himself chased after an alleged thief who had filled a suitcase of quality steak and beef.
In the video, one of the brothers who leads the store chain (it wasn’t clear who, but reports stated that the CEO of the supermarket was the one who apprehended the thief) can be seen running after a man wearing a light grey hoodie and dragging a dark suitcase down a street.
Moments later, a man in a red cap caught the suspected thief and tackled him sideways to the pavement. More details about this incident can be read here.
This week, the Reserve Bank lifted the official cash rate by another 25 points, taking it to 3.6 per cent. This rate hike will add more pressure on mortgage holders, who are already feeling the pinch of increasing costs.
This increase will also add more than $1,000 to the average monthly mortgage compared to the rate of repayments in April 2022.
The Reserve Bank has been lifting interest rates aggressively to tackle inflation, which was reported to have increased to a staggering 7.8 per cent during the last quarter of 2022. At the time, Treasurer Jim Chalmers described the numbers as ‘unacceptably high’. More details about this story can be read here.
What are your thoughts about this incident, members? What steps have you taken to make ends meet during these uncertain times? Share your experiences with us in the comments below.
But for others, the need to make their budget stretch longer sometimes leads to desperation. And a recent incident in a Perth shopping centre, when a security guard clashed with a suspected thief, illustrated this struggle to make ends meet.
A tense confrontation filled with profanity between a security guard and a shopper over a trolley full of groceries was caught on camera.
It was reported that the incident occurred in Balcatta, ‘a primarily middle-class suburb’ in the city’s north. The footage showed the security guard and woman embroiled in a ‘fierce tug of war’ over a Coles shopping trolley filled with food and soft drinks.
The shopper, suspected of stealing the items in her trolley, argued that she paid for the groceries and insisted that she show it to the female shop attendant before leaving the supermarket’s premises.
However, the adamant security guard didn’t believe her story and demanded that she return with him to the shopping centre.
An edited transcript of their conversation is as follows:
Woman: ‘I f***in showed her mate, I paid for it.’
Security guard: ‘You stop that; let’s go back there.’
Then, the security guard held onto the trolley to stop the woman from going anywhere, and their struggle nearly spilled onto the road as the argument escalated further.
Woman: ‘I showed the lady.’
Security guard: ‘No, no, no!’
The video then cuts, and it is still unclear how the incident ended. A spokesperson told reporters that the incident wasn’t reported to Western Australia Police.
The full news report was posted on the social media platform Twitter, which you can find below:
Shop owners said that incidents of theft are on the rise, with brazen thieves hiding food in bags and clothes, and police reported that stealing increased by 21 per cent in 2022.
Charities also said that the rising cost of living is ‘pushing people to the brink’. Anglicare’s Emergency Relief and Food Access Service received more than 3,700 calls for assistance in January this year alone – the highest number they’ve recorded by far.
An IGA supermarket manager shared that her store is losing thousands of dollars each week due to thieves.
‘They are really brazen,’ she told reporters.
‘The costs of living and pressures aren't helping the problem,’ she added.
This isn’t the first time a security guard working was caught on camera having a heated confrontation with a suspected shoplifter. Earlier this year, an incident happened at a Coles branch in Melbourne.
Footage showed the security guard chasing after the suspected thief and throwing punches while trying to grab him just outside the shopping centre. In other versions of the story, it was reported that the suspected thief threw the first punch, and this is what led to the physical altercation. The security guard can be heard asking the man: ‘Why do you hit people?’ You can read more details about this story here.
In another incident, the CEO of Harris Farm Markets himself chased after an alleged thief who had filled a suitcase of quality steak and beef.
In the video, one of the brothers who leads the store chain (it wasn’t clear who, but reports stated that the CEO of the supermarket was the one who apprehended the thief) can be seen running after a man wearing a light grey hoodie and dragging a dark suitcase down a street.
Moments later, a man in a red cap caught the suspected thief and tackled him sideways to the pavement. More details about this incident can be read here.
This week, the Reserve Bank lifted the official cash rate by another 25 points, taking it to 3.6 per cent. This rate hike will add more pressure on mortgage holders, who are already feeling the pinch of increasing costs.
This increase will also add more than $1,000 to the average monthly mortgage compared to the rate of repayments in April 2022.
The Reserve Bank has been lifting interest rates aggressively to tackle inflation, which was reported to have increased to a staggering 7.8 per cent during the last quarter of 2022. At the time, Treasurer Jim Chalmers described the numbers as ‘unacceptably high’. More details about this story can be read here.
Key Takeaways
- Dramatic vision captured a heated exchange between a shopping centre security guard and a suspected grocery store thief in Perth.
- Shop owners say theft is on the rise in WA, with the soaring cost of living pushing people to the brink.
- The Reserve Bank has recently lifted the official cash rate by another 25 basis points, taking it to 3.6 per cent, adding more pressure on mortgage holders.
- The Reserve Bank's efforts to tackle inflation have resulted in a December quarter inflation rate of 7.8 per cent.