Good Samaritan remembered as generous, loving family man as teen’s charges upgraded to manslaughter

Van Viet Truong died the way he lived, trying to help his colleagues in Sunshine’s close-knit city centre.

The 60-year-old succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday night, four days after he tried to stop five teenagers who allegedly stole clothes from a store near his grocery on Hampshire Road on Saturday.

As flowers began to line the pavement outside his shuttered store on Thursday, another trader Julie Tran remembered him as a generous colleague and a family man.

“He was a very community person. I have a restaurant, so we sometimes need to go past his store to buy certain products, and he would give us discounts,” Tran said. “Hong Hung grocery has always been there, and he knew all of his customers and what they normally came in for.”

Before Saturday, Van had been an enduring presence in the centre of Sunshine as one of the longest-operating traders on the main strip.

Tran, who has had her Thuan An restaurant on the strip for 18 years, said the area would feel different in his absence, with only a few traders having been in the area as long as Van.

“He loved his family a lot: they were always together,” Tran remembered. “I saw his wife and his mother-in-law at the store with him regularly.”

CCTV footage shows Truong, the owner of Hong Hung grocery, confronting a group as they ran down Hampshire Road about 2pm. He began pursuing the youths after they allegedly stole items from the Diamond Valley Fashion store near his shop.

Truong was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Saturday and remained in a critical condition for several days. Police say he died on Wednesday afternoon.

Five teenagers were initially charged over the confrontation: three boys and two girls, aged between 12 and 15, were all charged with affray, violent disorder, intentionally causing serious injury and intentionally causing injury.

On Thursday, police upgraded the 15-year-old boy’s charge to include manslaughter, while dropping charges against the 13-year-old boy. The 15-year-old, who is from the Brimbank area, and his three co-accused will face court at a later date.

Sunshine Business Association president Vu Du said the community was “deeply saddened by the events that occurred on Saturday, however, this isn’t an isolated incident, and youth crime is becoming an increasing problem”.

“The committee is seeing firsthand the daily issues with not only youth but drunken and disorderly [behaviour], homelessness and mental health concerns,” Du said.

“Business operators are already struggling with the current economy, but when individuals are stealing or vandalising their property, it makes it incredibly dire to keep their doors open.”

The Brimbank council’s offices are directly opposite where the crime took place, and Mayor Virginia Tachos said the fear and devastation felt by traders was rippling through her council and the wider community.

“[Truong] has been one of the longest serving traders in Sunshine. He supported all the businesses and they collectively have each other’s back,” she told this masthead.

“We’re all really devastated … when I spent that day in Sunshine on Sunday, so many people came up to me and told me stories about how loyal he was.”

Tachos said she had heard the business community’s calls for a greater police presence, and had requested a meeting with Premier Ben Carroll to discuss the issue.

“Given that the premier has mentioned that community safety is the priority, I feel this is an urgent matter,” she said.

“Traders have tried to take things into their own hands by hiring security, but this has now gone beyond that – this requires intervention.”

She said the Victims of Crime Commission offered trauma counselling for residents affected by the incident.

This masthead understands Carroll intends to make contact with the mayor and meet about the traders’ safety concerns.

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