Worker stabbed in David Jones handbag theft

An employee at a luxury fashion shop in Melbourne has been stabbed in the arm by an opportunistic thief, fleeing the scene with a designer handbag.

Police said the male staff member confronted a man and woman at David Jones at Emporium Melbourne on Little Bourke St just before noon on Tuesday.

The male thief stabbed the employee in the arm before he and his female accomplice fled the scene.

The staff member was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing, though no arrests have been made as of Tuesday afternoon.

Anyone who witnessed or has vision of the incident has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

The very same shopping centre was shut down just three weeks ago after as police responded to a man allegedly armed with a knife.

The standoff was caught on camera by witnesses who were locked inside stores.

Staff members in multiple shops were forced to pull down roller doors and harbour frightened customers while the man acted erratically and roamed the shopping centre.

Police attended the shopping centre where they apprehended the man.

He was taken to hospital for observation.

One shopper said she was walking through the mall when she heard a lot of yelling.

“Next thing they call a lockdown and we have to run into a store,” she wrote on Twitter.