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A grandmother attacked in an Auckland beach carpark believed her alleged attacker had twisted her arm so fiercely, she feared it was broken.
Brenda Biddle was allegedly assaulted last Saturday as she, her daughter and moko were looking for a parking space at popular Mission Bay beach.
Police have appealedfor anyone who has video of the incident to contact them.
Biddle had travelled to Auckland from Tūrangi to support her daughter and moko Miss Wiki, who was rushed to Starship Children’s Hospital for a blood transfusion.
“Around 2.30pm Saturday, we were going to meet the whānau of a girl Wiki had met in the cancer ward at Mission Bay Park for the kids to have a little play date,” Brenda, 57, told the Herald.
“My daughter yelled at him to get the f*** out of the way, but as we went to drive past him, he reached in the driver’s window, grabbed my daughter’s arm and tried to snap it out the door,” Biddle said.
Brenda Biddle's hand was swollen after the attack.
“I tried to scratch him to let her go, and get some DNA and because he was so muscly and hard, my fingernails just slid down his skin.
“He grabbed my hand and then let go. By then my daughter had enough and got out of the car. They were tussling and my daughter was on the ground and I got out of the car as well and tried to hit him with my jandal to let her go.
“Next minute, I’m pinned up to the hood of the car and he’s trying to snap my wrist and my arms and I was screaming, ‘You are snapping my arm’. Only my daughter came in and there were a lot of people standing around and filming this.
Brenda Biddle had to go to the Emergency Department at Auckland City Hospital for treatment.
“My arms felt sore and I had to go to A&E. As well as deep bruising, I had been bitten. He had me in some sort of lock and I think he was into martial arts because he was fit as.
“We had come to Auckland from Tūrangi for my moko, who needed a blood transfusion. She’s had a liver transplant and cancer but Miss Wiki is a fighter. She had 11 holes in her bowel and is the first person to survive that. She was in the car when this all went down.”
She said there were a lot of people watching and some videoing the incident.
“I don’t know why people didn’t jump in to help me.”
She reported the incident to police the next day. The alleged attacker’s photo has been shared to a number of community groups and he was quickly identified.
Biddle said she has told her whānau to let police do their job - and said this would never have happened in Tūrangi.
“It took my whānau 24 hours to find him, so we will wait for police to do their job. I have said to my family, don’t do anything. Let police have their chance.”
A police spokesperson confirmed Biddle had made a complaint.
“Police are making inquiries into a report of an assault in Mission Bay on Sunday, February 4,” the spokesperson said.
“The incident, involving two people not previously known to each other, was reported to have occurred around 2.30pm in the Mission Bay car park.
“It is understood both people received minor injuries in relation to this incident.
“Police have spoken to both persons involved and will continue to engage with them as our inquiries progress.
“At this stage, no charges or arrests have been laid.
“As part of our inquiries, Police ask anyone who may have footage of the incident or information that may assist to please contact Police via our 105 phone service or online at https://www.police.govt.nz/use-105, using Update My Report.”
Joseph Los’e is an award-winning journalist and joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa Māori Editor. Los’e was a chief reporter and news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to joining NZME worked for urban Māori organisation Whānau Waipareira.
