Timberyards may hold clues to bashing at quarry

Police have set up a team to follow leads after a woman suffered a vicious assault at the weekend.

The woman was last seen at a Mobil service station on Ponsonby Rd on Saturday night, and does not recall anything from the time she was at the Pride Parade in the central Auckland suburb until she woke up at a Riverhead quarry to see a man standing over her with a baseball bat.

Detective Senior Sergeant Kim Libby told the Herald police had had “quite a few calls” about the case.

CCTV footage released from a timberyard on Sawmill Rd, Riverhead, shows a car entering the remote quarry about 1.45am, before leaving at high speed 16 minutes later.

Police said it was highly likely that the victim was inside the vehicle as it drove down the quarry driveway.

Libby said police did not believe the car was also seen at the Mobil service station. “We believe it is highly likely that the victim is inside this car and possibly unconscious when the car enters the quarry,” he said.

“We are consulting with automotive experts as to the possible make and model of this car, but we want to hear from anyone who may recognise this vehicle.”

The woman woke up in the quarry partially naked after what police are describing as a “vicious assault”.

She was last seen in Ponsonby about 10.20pm before she woke, beaten and injured, four hours later and 25km away near Riverhead Forest, north of Auckland.

A man was standing over her with a bat, but she was able to flee.

“She yelled at him, got up and ran away and managed to escape. It was obviously very dark at the time.”

Libby said she was still recovering but had spoken to detectives.

Forensic tests have been taken to determine whether the woman had been drugged or stupefied.

Meanwhile, police are trying to identify and find the man seen talking to her outside the Mobil station on the corner of Ponsonby Rd and Karangahape Rd earlier in the evening.

“This man may well be innocent but ... [he] could also be the man driving that car into the quarry.”

Police have appealed for anyone with information to contact the inquiry team on 021 191 4085.