Police are hunting for up to six people who attacked a security guard and left him unconscious outside a shopping centre in West Auckland.
Emergency services were called to the Westgate shopping vicinity around 6am yesterday.
Cleaners and members of the public who had arrived to go to a nearby gym found the 21-year-old seriously injured and unconscious lying next to a damaged golf cart.
Police officers placed a cordon on the corner of Fernhill Drive and Westgate Drive as they carried out a forensic scene examination.
Waitakere Police Detective Sergeant Mike Clubb said the worker was taken to North Shore Hospital in a serious condition.
It was understood he was due to be discharged late yesterday.
"Police are yet to speak to the victim in greater detail, but he has described being assaulted by a group of six young people after chasing them around the back of The Warehouse and confronting them."
Mr Clubb said officers would be looking at CCTV footage in the area to try and identify the attackers.
"There's a nearby gym that opened at 5am and we'd like to speak to anyone who was in the area and saw the security guard or any groups of people behaving suspiciously."
Westgate management said they understood that the guard had just started work.