Car park good samaritan run over, attacked
The man who came to the aid of a woman being attacked in a Hamilton supermarket car park has described the moment he was attacked and run over.
Gareth Godfrey also said doctors had told him it will be between three and six months before he can walk again.
Godfrey went to help a woman who was allegedly being set upon by two males and two females in the carpark of the Rototuna New World on Tuesday.
He said he saw one of the males grappling with the woman.
‘‘I kind of grabbed him. Next thing I know I get hit from behind and run over,’’ he said.
While he was on the ground after being run over he said one of the assailants ‘‘punched the s*** out of me’’.
He said the woman involved, who another witness said was in her early to mid-60s, ‘‘had a terrible time’’.
He said his leg was ‘‘totally smashed’’. ‘‘It’s toast.’’
Godfrey said he intervened as soon as he saw the woman was in trouble without thinking.
‘‘I just did it,’’ he said. ‘‘Someone was in trouble.’’
Mark Lupton, who witnessed the aftermath of the alleged carjacking, said he was working in the New World branch when one of the staff members said ‘‘there’s a big fight’’. He arrived after the confrontation, but spoke to both Godfrey and the victim.
The woman had returned to her car with her shopping to find a window broken before two males and two females ‘‘started pushing her around, attacked her’’.
A good Samaritan then came to her aid, but they turned on him. ‘‘The males were attacking Gareth, [one of them] drove over his leg.’’
Lupton said the assault continued even after Godfrey’s leg had been run over.
‘‘He goes to the woman’s aid and they not only attack him, but carry on once they’ve run his leg over.’’
Lupton wanted to set up a Givealittle page because, like him, Gareth is an apprentice tradie and he knows impact time off work will have for him financially.
Lupton wanted to ‘‘show some appreciation for what [Godfrey’s] done’’. ‘‘Too often bystanders do nothing, or just film on their phones, he said.
‘‘This needs to be recognised.’’
From Porirua to Pukekohe – police
In the wake of the alleged carjacking on Tuesday, police said four people had been arrested.
Police said the incident occurred when an alleged offender was interrupted while interfering with a vehicle in a supermarket car park about 4pm.
After Godfrey’s leg was broken, the group got into a car that had been stolen on the previous evening in Porirua, and left the scene. Shortly before 2pm on
Wednesday, police received a tipoff that the stolen vehicle had been seen in Glenfield, Auckland.
Police found the vehicle, which
headed south on the northern motorway before being spiked at Pukekohe.
The four occupants of the vehicle fled on foot and were arrested. The group were due to appear in Hamilton Youth and District Courts on Thursday.