Two Women Assaulted in Separate Attacks Within 40 Minutes as Police Hunt Melbourne CBD Offender
Victoria Police are appealing for public assistance in identifying a man wanted over two violent assaults on women at separate businesses in Melbourne’s central business district, carried out within a 40-minute span.
The attacks took place on Thursday, July 9, at two massage businesses on Little Bourke Street in the city’s Chinatown precinct. Police were not alerted until the following Tuesday, after CCTV footage of the incidents began circulating widely on social media.
According to investigators, the man entered the first premises at approximately 4.20pm and struck a female employee in the face without provocation. Footage shows the woman retreating to another room as the offender kicked at the door before fleeing the scene. Roughly 40 minutes later, he allegedly entered a second nearby business, where he punched another female worker multiple times, forced her to the ground, and kicked her as she lay defenceless.
Police have described the suspect as wearing a red beanie, a red hooded jumper beneath a black jumper, dark trousers, and carrying a backpack. He was subsequently captured on CCTV walking through the Paramount Retail Centre on Exhibition Street shortly after the alleged attacks.
Detectives have not confirmed whether the victims were known to the offender, though the assaults are understood to have been unprovoked. Anyone with information, dashcam footage or CCTV recordings has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
The incidents follow a troubling pattern of violent offending in Melbourne’s CBD in recent weeks, including a series of arson attacks and drive-by shootings that have unsettled residents, traders and visitors alike. Business owners in the Chinatown precinct have voiced growing frustration over what they describe as a decline in public safety, with several calling for increased police visibility during both day and evening trading hours.
Community advocates have also raised concerns about the wellbeing of workers in the personal services industry, noting that staff in massage and beauty businesses can be particularly vulnerable to random acts of violence given the nature of their work environments.
Senior police have vowed to intensify patrols in key entertainment and business precincts and to pursue those responsible for the recent escalation in serious crime. A dedicated taskforce is understood to be reviewing footage from multiple CCTV networks across the CBD in an effort to establish whether the same offender may be linked to other recent incidents in the area. Authorities have reiterated that community cooperation remains critical to resolving the case swiftly.
