An Australian man has been arrested in Vietnam after an extraordinary rampage through a cafe, leaving the venue with thousands of dollars worth of damage. Footage of the incident at Ge Cafe in Da Nang showed the shirtless man using a chair to destroy the shop's equipment and smash windows in the late night incident. It also captured him grappling with cafe customers, many of whom were sent running for the exits, appearing to put one in a headlock.
In a stunning twist, the cafe's owners revealed they would not accept donations after vision of the rampage went viral online and triggered a wave of support from around the world. Local police were shown marching the man out of the cafe in central Da Nang just after midnight on May 30, with a Hai Chau ward official estimating he had caused VND500 million ($26,400) in damage.
How the Incident Unfolded
Posting on Facebook, Ge Cafe management recounted how the "serious incident" unfolded after the man arrived late at night on May 29. They wrote the man sat down at a table and was approached by staff to tell him he had to order at the counter. A woman could be seen running from the cafe. Another customer then offered him their phone to translate the conversation and he allegedly refused to return it, and "only laughed and continued scrolling through messages."
"The staff called security for assistance due to unusual behaviour," the post read. "However, before the staff could reach the security guard, the man stood up, began taking off his shirt, smashing a customer's phone, and telling everyone they had 10 seconds to leave the store. He then proceeded to vandalise the place, destroying much of the bar equipment, decor, tempered glass doors, and many customer belongings inside at the time, such as laptops and phones."
"Many customers on the second and third floors were trapped. About 5 minutes after the incident, the police arrived in front of the store. At this point, the suspect tried to escape and ran to the second floor, where he got into a scuffle with several customers and grabbed one male customer by the neck. After about 2-3 minutes, the suspect was surrounded by police and taken to the police station at approximately 00:30 on May 30, 2026. The suspect was uncooperative, shouting and resisting arrest."
Damage and Aftermath
In another post, the owners shared pictures of smashed windows, a laptop, lamps and the wreckage of its coffee machine which was pushed off a bench by the man. Footage showed him mowing down equipment with the chair, destroying the coffee machine, coffee grinder and cups. He used a chair to break through the cafe's large glass windows before grabbing an Apple laptop from a table, breaking it over his knee and throwing outside through the broken glass.
A crowd of onlookers gathered outside as the incident unfolded, with police seen storming the shop while patrons fled the two-storey building. "Seeing the visitor causing a disturbance, many customers ran outside without time to take their belongings, which were destroyed," a Hai Chau ward official said, VN Express reports.
Cafe staff were seen cleaning up the store on Le Hong Phong the next day and it has announced it would be closed for up to three days. Le Hong Phong is a central thoroughfare in Da Nang, one of Vietnam's most popular tourism destinations. VN Express reported on Saturday, local time, the man remained in detention while investigations into the incident continued.
