A 52-year-old woman has been identified as Melbourne resident Tracy Myers following an alleged assault in which a plate was smashed into the face of a French waitress. Myers was taken into custody at Dandenong Railway Station around 10:50 AM on Saturday and subsequently charged with recklessly causing injury.
She appeared before Melbourne Magistrate's Court on Sunday and was granted bail. Police allege that Myers shoved a plate into the face of 19-year-old backpacker Anais Poupon at La Vallee cafe in Essendon, north-west Melbourne, around 1 PM on Anzac Day, April 25.
CCTV footage shows Poupon walking around a corner carrying plates when a woman approaching from the opposite direction narrowly avoids colliding with her. The woman then appears to knock a plate into the waitress's face before slapping the remaining plates to the ground. The young backpacker required dental work following the incident.
Poupon expressed her distress, stating, 'She told me, "It's your fault". I'm very upset. I did nothing.'
La Vallee co-owner Josh Rabie expressed shock at the behaviour, telling the Daily Mail, 'It was pretty sickening. When the waitress came in, I thought it might have just been a collision but then I checked the CCTV footage. It's something you wouldn't expect, and something you wouldn't want to happen – there was no reason.'
Rabie noted that this was the first such incident in his eight years in the industry, adding, 'You see it every now and then on social media, we hear of it quite often, but I don't think I have heard anything this extreme.'
The Essendon community has rallied around the cafe after CCTV footage of the incident went viral on social media. La Vallee posted the video with the message, 'We are beyond shocked. We love being part of the community in Essendon and we hope our followers can share, tag and suggest this to local friends so we can get some justice.'
Thousands of Australians viewed and shared the short video, with one commenting, 'Hope your staff member is okay.'
Myers is scheduled to appear at Broadmeadows Magistrates' Court on August 17. The Daily Mail has contacted Myers for comment.
