Woman bashed over parking

AN infuriated Melbourne driver spat on a grandmother before pushing her to the ground for illegally parking outside a supermarket, leaving her screaming in pain with shattered wrists and a broken spine.

The man remains on the run while the 68-yearold woman recovers in hospital with steel plates in her wrists and a back brace protecting her fractured spinal bone.

‘ ‘ She’s very traumatised by it. She’s suffering nightmares,’’ Detective Senior Constable Samantha Haines said yesterday.

‘‘It’s a very cowardly and unprovoked attack on a defenceless, elderly female.’’

About noon on October 6, the woman’s husband stopped their car at the f ront of the Woolworths supermarket in Preston so she didn’t have to walk in the rain with their groceries. A passing driver yelled through his window, before parking his car and approaching the couple.

Police say the man abused the woman, spat in her face, pushed her over and tried to kick her as she lay on the ground.

The attacker, believed to be in his 20s, fled from the carpark while an offduty paramedic rushed to help the seriously injured woman.

Detectives are searching for any witnesses who saw a blue Hyundai sedan or the unknown attacker.

‘‘The family has been completely rocked by this attack, ’ ’ SenConstable Haines said. ‘‘ They are very distraught and very angry.’’

The man is described as Caucasian, with a thin build. He was wearing a blue beanie, black T-shirt and runners.