Melbourne’s inner city live music venue, Ding Dong Lounge, was robbed this week.
Tuesday 19 May saw three young men enter the venue at 18 Market Lane at approximately 2:00pm, making off with various bottles of top-shelf alcohol as well as a staff member’s laptop.
Tone Deaf spoke with Ding Dong Lounge’s owner, Bill Walsh, who provided us with images of the three thieves as they entered the venue, asking for anyone that recognises their faces either contact the police or Ding Dong as soon as possible.
Providing us with a recount of what took place on the day of the theft, Walsh detailed “Our chef noticed that his laptop was missing, as a consequence, I started reviewing the surveillance cameras and found that five minutes before I arrived at the venue, we’d been robbed.”
“We have deliveries, so we have the door open to receive them, the thieves were in and out pretty quickly” Walsh said, noting that as he first entered the venue he actually saw the three sitting at the nearby dumplings restaurant, Hutong, “I didn’t have any conclusive evidence until I looked at the footage, I raced down and they were gone” he explained.
“They were young opportunists, the door was open, there’s a lesson for all of us really – but nevertheless, it was a pretty brazen robbery” providing warning for any other venues “it highlights the fact that you can never anything unlocked.”
Walsh provided description to accompany the images below, noting that two of robbers were asian in appearance and one caucasian, “dressed in baseball caps, they would be in their early 20s”.
Taken aback by the incident, Walsh was shocked how casual the three were in entering the venue, “they were remarkably unfazed by the cameras, it surprised me, I would have thought you’d be hiding your face, but they just went straight for it, it was a very ballsy robbery, I’ve got to say.”
If you know recognise any of these three men, please contact the police, Crime Stoppers or Ding Dong Lounge directly on [email protected].
