'Fantastic' support for woman beaten in daylight carjacking attempt

Angelica Sloane was dragged from her Mazda RX-8 by her hair and beaten by up to six teenagers at the Manukau Sports Bowl on Sunday lunchtime. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A woman who suffered a badly bruised face in a "brutal" attempt to steal her car from an Auckland park in broad daylight says the public support she's had has been "fantastic".

Angelica Sloane, 22, was dragged from her Mazda RX-8 by her hair and beaten by up to six teenagers at the Manukau Sports Bowl on Sunday lunchtime.

She has posted graphic images of her injuries online and says her attackers left shoe marks on her badly beaten face.

South Auckland police are investigating but said yesterday there was no update.

Ms Sloane, a South Auckland dental assistant was back at work this morning with a warning for the public that her attackers are "all out there somewhere ... be extra careful".

She said her face is still tender and purple, along with the back of her head.

When she visited a supermarket yesterday, she was approached by a member of the public who expressed their support.

"So the public are fantastic."

Ms Sloane said she had received reports suggesting she was the third victim within 24 hours "so I can't stress enough how much they need to get caught".

"In a sense I'm glad it was me that they took on - if it was an elderly couple or someone that could not handle themselves, then it could have ended a lot worse."

Ms Sloane was due to meet a friend from her car club at the sports bowl about 11.30am when the attack took place.

After her friend cancelled the meeting, Ms Sloane was about to leave when a car full of people approached asking for cigarettes.

The group consisted of at least three males and two females who all appeared to be under 18, she said.

As she was getting into her car, they did a U-turn and pulled up behind her. Three people got out of the car and asked again for cigarettes.

Ms Sloane said one of the females grabbed her by the hair and dragged her from the car.

"They ran up from behind me and grabbed my hair and brutally kicked me in the head several times."

During the attack, one of the other teenagers grabbed the keys from her car and ran back to their vehicle. Ms Sloane could see her distinctive key ring in one of the women's hands.

"All that was going through my head was, 'You are not taking my belongings, you're not taking any of my personal things, you're not getting away with it'," Ms Sloane said.

She ran to the car as it was driving away and tried to stop the group.

"I was half in the car trying to get the keys out of their ignition and in that process they managed to smack into a big huge pine tree and that's where the vehicle stopped."

A witness intervened but Ms Sloane's ordeal was not over.

"One of the ladies from the left side of the car hopped out and ran to my car with my keys to try and start it and take off with it.

"So with the adrenalin rush and everything, I just opened my car door, I just grabbed her and pretty much hiffed her out of the car."

The group drove off in their own vehicle, which is believed to have been stolen.

"All I was thinking was to get them the hell away from me and my car," Ms Sloane said.

Ms Sloane posted about the incident on Facebook to increase awareness and the post had been shared widely.

"I'm just saying to everyone, no matter where you go, no matter what time of the day it is, you've just got to be ready for anything to happen."