A brazen thief bit a Bunnings worker on the arm and left her bleeding after she got busted fleeing the shop with tools stuffed in the back of her pram.
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Arsha Safatli, aged 42 of St Andrews, was set to defend charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and shoplifting at Wollongong Local Court on Friday, however opted to enter last-minute guilty pleas to the botched heist.
CCTV footage captured Safatli and a male associate entering Kembla Grange Bunnings on August 16, 2023, with Safatli pushing a pram with a young child inside.
The pair split off and the man walked to the tool section and picked up two Ryobi brand drill skins - worth a total of $900 - before he placed them on a different shelf.
Safatli then walked to that shelf, took the items and put them in the back of her pram. She paid for a small paint brush at the tool section and walked towards the store's exit where she was stopped by a female worker.
The staff member, aged 54, asked to see Safatli's receipts before she noticed the stolen items sticking out of the pram.
She attempted to reach for the tools, but Safatli took hold of her forearm and bit it twice with force, causing the victim immediate, sharp pain.
The victim was left bleeding while Safatli ran down the travelator. She ditched the drill skins underneath a parked car before she left the scene in a taxi, while her associate drove off in a different car.
Meanwhile, the Bunnings worker sought treatment of two wounds and extensive bruising at the bite marks. The wounds were cleaned and she was required to have a tetanus shot.
Safatli attended Campbelltown police station the following month after being notified she was a suspect. She admitted to biting the woman in an interview, however denied the theft.
She officially came clean to her crimes on Friday and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 19.
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
