Man armed with knife robs Hamilton Hill deli in latest terrifying robbery in Perth suburbs

Terrified staff ran for their lives after a thug with a knife stormed a deli south of the city.

In recent weeks, Hamilton Hill deli staff became the latest in a string of victims who have been the target of terrifying robberies in Perth.

The employees fled the Simms Road store around 9:20 am. Thursday, when the knife-armed man entered and walked behind the counter.

Once alone in the store, the man allegedly stole packs of cigarettes and left through the sandwich shop’s back door.

Regional Investigators are calling on the public for information about the man’s identity.

Described as fair-skinned and tall, he wore a red hoodie and a black jacket with a white and light blue sleeve. He also wore black sweatpants and black and white shoes.

Anyone who knows the individual, or has information that could assist investigators, is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1800 333,000 or crimestopperswa.com.au.

Camera icon Described as fair-skinned and tall, the man was wearing a red hoodie and a black jacket with a white and light blue sleeve. Credit: WA Police/Delivered

Thursday’s attack is the latest in a disturbing and escalating trend of recent terrifying and often violent robberies in the city.

Hamilton Hill

Earlier this month, 65-year-old Chris Hands was left unconscious and bleeding on the floor in his retirement home in the same suburb after a pair of young men demanding money attacked him.

The Salvation Army volunteer was carrying out his regular voluntary evening patrol of the Jindalee complex on June 5 — which he began after calls to install a gate and CCTV in the government-run village were ignored — when he was attacked by a couple of young men who demanded money.

He bravely tried to lure his attackers away from his neighbors by running down the driveway, but he was quickly brought to the ground with punches and kicks to the head.

“I thought, ‘They won’t stand a chance; they’re all in their 70s and 80s,’ so I just ran, hoping they would follow suit, and they did,” he said hours after leaving the hospital. L” And then they got stuck inside m and laid off—the next day.

“I saw blood flowing from my ear to my jacket. The next thing I knew, I was on the floor.

“I tried to get up, but the more I got up, the more they would come.”

It came just days before a 31-year-old woman was brutally beaten by a stranger who broke into her Atwell home around 9 am on June 14.

The woman’s injuries were aggressive, with a CT scan and X-rays confirming multiple fractures to her face, and one eye was swollen completely shut.

She was home alone when the man attacked her, throwing punch after punch while demanding, ‘where’s the money’.

“He hit me so many times that I couldn’t get up. I felt so dizzy,” she told The West two days after the attack.

She had no money in the house, “but I couldn’t talk, and he kept hitting me”.

About two weeks earlier, a group of men reportedly broke into a house in High Wycombe before forcing one of the residents to open his gun safe by dousing him with methylated spirits and setting him on fire.

Police will allege that the robbers were armed with firearms and threatened to kill the residents before setting one on fire.

The 52-year-old victim suffered severe facial burns and was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital for treatment.

Last month in Koongamia, a woman and her baby were entangled in a botched home burglary, which police say was the target.

Police say several shooters — who suspect they may have bicycle tires — tried to break into the house around 7:40 pm on May 17 but fled when police arrived.

Gang crime detectives are investigating simmering tensions between rival bikers as a possible motive behind the attempted home invasion.

John D.Mayne
I love to write. When I wasn’t writing for my school newspaper or college blog, I was writing personal essays and journal entries. Then I discovered I loved to write. In college, I wrote for my school paper and my campus radio show. I started doing freelance writing for the Huffington Post in 2009. Then, I joined the team at Newsmyth as a writer/editor. Now, I spend most of my time writing for Newsmyth and as a guest blogger on a handful of other blogs. When I’m not writing, I like to read, travel, cook, and spend time with friends.