A 60-year-old good Samaritan who came to the aid of a fellow shop worker in a street scuffle with teenagers in Melbourne’s west has died from his injuries.

Van Viet Truong was left with life-ending injuries after attempting to stop four teenagers who allegedly stole clothes in Sunshine on Saturday.

CCTV shows Viet, the owner of Hong Hung grocery, confronting the group as they ran down Hampshire Road at about 2pm. He began pursuing the youths after they allegedly stole items from the Diamond Valley Fashion store near his shop.

Truong was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Saturday and remained in a critical condition for several days. Victoria Police say he died on Wednesday afternoon.

Five teenagers have been charged over the confrontation and were remanded in custody on Sunday afternoon, when Magistrate Robyn Hamilton adjourned remands for the accused until this Friday, August 7.

Three boys and two girls, aged between 12 and 15, were all charged with affray, violent disorder, intentionally causing serious injury and intentionally causing injury.

Police said detectives would consider upgrading the charges following the victim’s death.

Julie Tran, owner of Thuan An Vietnamese restaurant on the same street as the grocer, said Truong was well known in the community.

She said the community had asked for a larger police presence in Sunshine but had so far been ignored by council and the state government.

“Because a man has passed away, there’s a police presence, but why wasn’t there a police presence when he was alive?” Tran said. “Why should he have to die for a crime like this? It’s just not acceptable.”

“Obviously, it’s been an ongoing issue, with crime and homelessness, alcoholism,” she said. “They use the public space to display their anger and stuff.

“As a business owner, we all want something to be done. We’re here to run a business, not to be scared of what’s happening around us.”

Sunshine Business Association president Vu Du said the community was “deeply saddened by the events that occurred on Saturday, however, this isn’t an isolated incident, and youth crime is becoming an increasing problem.”

“The committee is seeing firsthand the daily issues with not only youth but drunken and disorderly [behaviour], homelessness and mental health concerns,” Du said.

“Business operators are already struggling with the current economy, but when individuals are stealing or vandalising their property, it makes it incredibly dire to keep their doors open.”

The Brimbank council’s offices are directly opposite where the crime took place, and mayor Virginia Tachos said the fear and devastation felt by traders was rippling through her council and the wider community.

“[Viet] has been one of the longest serving traders in Sunshine. He supported all the businesses and they collectively have each other’s back,” she told this masthead. “We’re all really devastated ... when I spent that day in Sunshine on Sunday, so many people came up to me and told me stories about how loyal he was.”

Tachos said she had heard the business community’s calls for a greater police presence, and had requested a meeting with Premier Ben Carroll to discuss the issue.

“Given that the premier has mentioned that community safety is the priority, I feel this is an urgent matter,” she said.

“Traders have tried to take things into their own hands by hiring security, but this has now gone beyond that – this requires intervention.”

She said the council is offering trauma counselling for residents affected by the incident.

This masthead understands Carroll intends to make contact with the mayor and meet about the traders’ safety concerns.