Elderly man left 'black and blue' after Ōtaki road rage attack

Thursday, 24 December 2020

An 81-year-old man was left with a black eye, bleeding nose and cut gums after he was punched through the window of his car in a road rage incident, north of Wellington.

The Waikato man, who wished not to be named out of fear, said he is still “black and blue” a week after the incident, which he described as “cruel”.

He had been visiting Ōtaki with his partner and was searching for his motel when a man, believed to be in his 20s, took offence to his driving, near the intersection of Robert McKeen Street and Tasman Road.

“I was parked on the side of the road, and he came in behind me. He said I was doing about 10kmh while I was looking for the motel.

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“He tooted his horn, so I tooted back, and then he came around in front of me, and blocked the road off and started abusing me. I told him in no certain terms to ‘get back into his car, I don't want to talk to you, go away’ … he started to walk away and then came back and punched me through the window,” he said.

Following the attack, the man said he was bleeding from the nose and mouth for about two hours, where his dentures had cut his gum.

“I was covered in blood from head to toe,” he said.

Nearby witnesses provided him support and he received medical treatment.

A week after, he has only just been able to open his jaw and said he is looking forward to being able to eat some Christmas pudding.

“It's absolutely cruel, especially to someone 81 bloody years of age … There are some nice people out there, but also some terrible ones … all I want to do is stop it from happening to anyone else,” he said.

A police spokeswoman said inquiries into the circumstances of the incident are ongoing.