Man injured, robbed in hammer attack

A 59-year-old man is recovering at home after being hit on the head with a hammer after leaving work at an Altona North shopping centre on Thursday night.

The shop owner was assaulted and robbed next to his car in Beuron Road outside Altona Gate Shopping Centre about 9.30pm.

His daughter, Nadia, said her father didn’t see his attackers’ faces.

“It was kind of organised because the air had been taken out of one of his tyres earlier on so he couldn’t drive the car, and that’s when the two men approached him and took everything off him,” she said.

“And on top of that, they actually attacked him with a hammer. He couldn’t see their faces.”

Nadia said a person in the street saw what was happening and approached to help her father.

An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said paramedics were called to a reported assault and a man with upper body injuries was taken to Footscray Hospital in a stable condition.

Nadia said her father was discharged on Friday morning and was “just going through the motions”.

“He’s still in a state of shock,” she said.

“Luckily, the wound wasn’t deep enough to cause brain damage, but he has a massive gash in his head that will take a couple of weeks to recover from.”

She said the men stole her father’s wallet, keys and cash.

Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Goya Dmytryshchak