MELBOURNE, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- A grocery store owner has died in hospital days after being allegedly assaulted by a group of teenagers while coming to the aid of a nearby shop employee following an alleged theft in western Melbourne, police said on Thursday.
Sixty-year-old Van Viet Truong died in hospital on Wednesday afternoon from critical injuries sustained on Aug. 1, police said.
It will be alleged in court that Truong was attacked by several youths after he came to the aid of an employee from a nearby store who was involved in a street scuffle over allegedly stolen items in the western Melbourne suburb of Sunshine.
Three boys aged 12, 13 and 15 and two 14-year-old girls were subsequently arrested and charged with affray, violent disorder, intentionally causing serious injury and intentionally causing injury. The charges against the 13-year-old boy were later withdrawn after further investigations exonerated him.
The 15-year-old boy was additionally charged with manslaughter on Thursday.
Vu Du, president of the Sunshine Business Association, told Melbourne newspaper The Age that the attack was not an isolated incident amid an increasing youth crime problem in the area.
A group of five local mayors from Melbourne's western suburbs on Wednesday called for police stations in the area to extend their opening hours and for more police to protect businesses and residents. ■