Police are closing in on a Kaitaia man who allegedly committed a serious assault - using his artificial leg.
Senior Sergeant Geoff Ryan, of Kaitaia police, said a 35-year-old man had been drinking at a Kaitaia address on Thursday night when another man arrived uninvited.
"An altercation took place which ended with the person who had arrived kicking the other man several times with his prosthetic steel leg, smashing the victim's ankle."
The 35-year-old's ankle injuries were such that he had to be taken to Whangarei Hospital for surgery. He has since been discharged.
Police enquiries were continuing, Mr Ryan said. They had yet to formally identify the offender but believed they knew who they were looking for. Once located he was likely to be charged with assault with a weapon, namely a prosthetic leg.
Last week, a police spokesman said the victim's injuries were such that his foot was "hanging off the end of his leg". The assault was apparently sparked by the uninvited visitor's suspicion that the victim had stood on his rubber foot.