Man fighting for life after Geelong assault

Kim Waters
A man was fighting for life yesterday after an assault at Hamlyn Heights, police said.
The 33-year-old was listed in a critical condition at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital after suffering a head injury in Toyne Avenue about 7pm Wednesday.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said the Hamlyn Heights man suffered a “life-threatening assault”.
The spokesperson said police had questioned a 28-year-old “associate” from Norlane.
Police believed the victim struck his head on “an unknown object” while wrestling with the Norlane man.
The victim stumbled across the road to another house where he collapsed in a driveway before a neighbour raised the alarm, the police spokesperson said.
Police were first on the scene, administering CPR until paramedics arrived.
Investigations were continuing when the Independent went to press yesterday afternoon,
Witnesses said a carload of people were driving up and down Toyne Avenue tooting a horn and “doing burn-outs” before the alleged assault.
“I saw it all happen right here in my driveway,” a resident of Toyne Avenue said.
“I can’t talk about it at the moment, it’s just so bad, I’m too upset to talk.”
A witness said her son and a family friend arrived outside her home for a family dinner as the attack began.
“These guys in a car belted (the) guy up,” she said.
“When my son came inside he was really upset – everyone is really shaken up.”
“The car had been driving flat-out up and down the street for a while and they were tooting the horn outside the units.
“They were doing burn-outs and there was so much blue smoke you couldn’t see anything.”
The witness said the assault “seemed to have happened for no reason”.
“I haven’t ever spoken to him (the victim) but he seems like an okay guy.”
The witness said the quiet street had changed when a block of units was built eight years ago.
“Since then we’ve had problems,” she said.
“The people in them fight all the time and the police always have to come out.”
Meanwhile, police were yesterday continuing investigations into an assault on a teenage boy outside a Geelong church.
The assault was filmed and posted on website U-Tube.