By Brendan Rees
A young man has been callously attacked by a man fuelled with “pure rage” as he and his girlfriend arrived at Casey Central Shopping Centre on Monday 8 June.
The victim, a 24-year-old man, told Star News he was repeatedly punched to the face by the unknown man, resulting in a cracked tooth and his upper lip “hanging down” – within minutes of pulling into the Coles carpark about 3pm.
The victim said the man of Islander appearance had been driving a dark blue Ford Focus in the carpark and approached him and girlfriend at fast speed.
“As it got closer it actually accelerated so he was not stopping at all,” he said.
“As the car past I tapped and said something to the effect of ‘watch out’.”
The alleged thug stopped the car immediately and “just swung straight at me,” the victim explained, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“My face was bleeding. I didn’t really realise how bad it was at the time. He snapped; like someone flicked a switch.”
The victim shouted at the alleged offender for almost swiping his girlfriend with his car.
“His response to that (was): ‘She should’ve been watching where she was going’.
“It took a few minutes for me to realise one of my teeth was knocked in half. My top lip was actually hanging down,” he said.
The man got back in his car with a male passenger, who had also got out of the car the time of the incident but did not attempt to stop the attack.
“Just confused why someone would behave that way,” the victim said.
The victim, a sales worker, said he didn’t call an ambulance and instead went straight to a police station before visiting a medical clinic.
Victoria Police have confirmed the incident and are investigating.
“The situation escalated when the offender got out of the car and punched the male in the face several times before driving away from the scene,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
Shadow Minister for Youth Justice, Crime Prevention and Victim Support Brad Battin said: “Crime in Casey continues, even during these lockdowns. Casey residents just want to feel safe, and violence like this creates fear that we do not need at this time.”
The man is described as aged in his 50s, 165cm tall, clean shaven, with dark short hair, and was wearing a mustard coloured hoodie and dark tracksuit pants.
The blue Ford Focus is described as a 2000 model with registration 1PD5MY.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
