LEAD STORY: Serious attack on Bay police officer

A Hawke's Bay police officer may face surgery on facial injuries after he was punched, stomped on and had his radio smashed into his face yesterday afternoon.
Clive Community Constable Alan Daly was admitted to Hawke's Bay Hospital with a possible broken nose and a fractured eye socket after he was allegedly assaulted by a man and a woman from Auckland after stopping their car in Clive's Elizabeth Place about 3.15pm.
Hastings Area Commander Inspector Dean Clifford said Mr Daly had been alerted to a possible stolen vehicle carrying two people who police suspected had been involved in a shoplifting spree in Napier.
Mr Daly saw the car driving through Clive and followed it into the narrow cul-de-sac.
The male got out and allegedly "king hit" him from behind and knocked him to the ground.
Mr Clifford said the female occupant of the car then stomped on him and began smashing his police radio into his face.
Neighbour Robin Oliver was the first on the scene. "I ran out and saw Al's [Mr Daly] vehicle and knew straight away it was him," Mr Oliver told Hawke's Bay Today.
"When I got there both were on top of him. I ran over and hauled them off. At that moment other police turned up."
Mr Oliver, a local builder, said he wasn't sure if the constable was conscious at the time.
"I think he was perhaps more shocked than anything else."
He said Mr Daly was well-respected in the Clive community, where he had been the sole-charge officer for 10 years.
"It was a bit too close to home."
It's understood the constable was able to radio for help at some stage during the assault.
Mr Daly was conscious when ambulance staff arrived and was taken to hospital. He was discharged last night. A decision is yet to made about whether he will face surgery.
He had been a police officer for more than 25 years, is married with children and has been heavily involved in rugby and Hawke's Bay Search and Rescue for many years.
Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule said the attack was one of the "frightening realities" of being on the frontline today.
"Yet it's still unbelievable that some people have the gall to attack a police officer," he said.
"I can't imagine how Constable Daly's family felt when they got this terrible news. It doesn't seem long since Detective Dan Foley was attacked and now this."
Detective Sergeant Foley spent eight days in hospital last October after being bashed unconscious while going to the aid of a young woman he saw involved in a street altercation.
He was off-duty and collecting his daughter from a party in Hastings at the time.
Police Association president Greg O'Connor said the assault strengthened the case for police to carry firearms, but Police Minister Judith Collins claimed the nature of yesterday's attack was such that an officer's gun may have been taken from him.
Joy Leaf, 30, and Lance Pirini, 31, from Auckland are jointly facing charges of aggravated wounding, theft of a car and theft - relating to an unrelated incident in Taupo.
They will appear in Hastings District Court today.