The experienced manager said the Caroline Springs store had recently started locking its doors as soon as the last customer left. As a further precaution on Thursday night, her staff began locking its doors despite there being six customers still inside. The back door was locked and an employee was heading towards the front door to do the same when the three men stormed the doors. “We knew it was probably on the cards,” Ms Ayres said. “But we weren't expecting them to do it while we were still in service. They just don't seem to care anymore.”

The attempted robbery allegedly took place at the pizza shop on Lake Street about 9.50pm. Police said the young men were carrying metal bars and a meat cleaver. Security footage on a concerned citizen's page appears to show three offenders rushing into the store and smashing objects off the counter.

Police allege the offenders attempted to steal a cash register but fled empty-handed, despite allegedly smashing their way through the pizza shop, leaving customers and staff "rattled". Some patrons and staff picked up chairs and chased the offenders off, with the shocking incident all taking place in a matter of seconds. Ms Ayres said a family of three, which included a young girl, were sitting near the front bar when the attempted robbery took place.

“It was quite dramatic for everybody inside, including staff, everyone was left rattled,” Ms Ayres said. “Particularly the child, she was a little girl around the age of seven, with her parents. They were sitting near the front of bar … they were smack in the middle of it.” Ms Ayres said the till had been cleared and locked when the thieves entered but estimated the damage inflicted at about $1500, with till screens and a freezer smashed. That followed a damage bill of about $20,000 at the Slices Keilor store.

She said the store would take further measures to protect staff and customers but did not believe what she described as the targeting of small businesses by armed thieves would stop any time soon. “Unfortunately in the area at this point, it is just something we have to accept,” she said. “[But] I'm here today, we’re cleaning up, we’re going to keep serving. “We're not going to back down.” The second attempted burglary took place about five kilometres away at a bottle shop on Hume Drive, Sydenham, about 10pm.

The proprietor of Wally's Discount Liquor said his 28-year-old son scared off the attackers with a baseball bat. Again, it is alleged three masked men entered the store armed with a meat cleaver. No one was physically injured during either incident. Victoria Police released a statement on Friday morning, describing the males who stormed the restaurant as being “perceived to be of African appearance”. Not long after that, two teenagers were arrested in relation to the incidents – a 16-year-old from Sydenham and an 18-year-old from Melton – at a home in Taylors Hill.

The pair were later charged on Friday afternoon. The 16-year-old was charged with possessing a prohibited weapon, possessing a firearm and possessing ammunition. He was granted bail to appear at Children's Court at a later date. The 18-year-old was charged with two counts of armed robbery and other theft related offences, and will appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court at a later date. Following the arrests, a second police statement described the offenders as being of “Caucasian in appearance”. A Victoria Police spokeswoman told Fairfax Media the initial report regarding the offenders' ethnicity was incorrect.

Slices owner Sam Cannalonga – who was not present at the time of the attempted robbery and did not report it to police – said the offenders had their faces covered, were wearing gloves and that some witnesses assumed they were African Australian. The police spokeswoman said police were still searching for at least two other offenders in relation to the attempted robberies. Police have also recovered a vehicle, a Honda sedan, believed to have been used during the two incidents. The investigation remains ongoing.

Mr Cannalonga said the attack was "very disturbing" – but made little sense. “We’ve got no money on the premises, there’s hardly any money on the premises anymore –it’s not worth it. "We’re ‘camera'd up’, we're very well known in the community, there’s a lot activity out front. "It's a little bit concerning, they've got no fear. “They'd have to be on something special."