Good Samaritan attacked trying to help distressed woman

Passer-by tried to help a person in distress but was attacked. Photo / File

A Bay of Plenty woman claims she was attacked and her car rammed after she tried to help someone in distress.

The woman said she was driving near the end of Welcome Bay Rd towards Papamoa early on Sunday morning when she spotted the distressed young woman running on the side of the road, crying.

The woman said she pulled over to check on the woman and was told to go away.

As she began to turn her car around and head back the way she came, she said a man emerged from bushes on the side of the road and put his hands through her driver's side window.

She believed he was trying to grab her car keys.

She drove away, turned around again, and then had to get around the man, who was standing in the middle of the road beside a 4WD vehicle.

She stopped to speak to the woman again and tell her to get in the car as White believed she was in trouble, but the woman again told her to go away.

As this was happening, the 4WD rammed the back of White's vehicle.

The woman said she sped away and the other car chased her for about five minutes.

Her passenger called police and they met officers at the Welcome Bay shops. The car stopped following them when they started reaching a more populated area.

Police said they had received two reports from people who said their vehicles had been rammed in the Welcome Bay Rd area about 12.45am on Sunday. Inquiries are continuing.