Black Power patch attack: Siaosi Meleisea admits stomping, running over man in South Auckland

A Black Power patch appears to have somehow inspired a grisly scene in South Auckland in which an attack victim was motionless after suffering a head stomp – only then to be intentionally run over by a car.

Siaosi Meleisea, 29, had been set to go to trial in the High Court at Auckland next week for attempted murder of the stranger.

He instead appeared yesterday in court, where he told Justice Dani Gardiner in a loud and confident voice: “I want to plead guilty on that.”

In exchange for his admission of guilt, prosecutors withdrew the attempted murder charge, allowing him instead to plead guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to do so. Both charges carry maximum possible punishments of 14 years’ imprisonment.

Newly released court documents do not outline why the attack started, but describe in graphic detail how it took place.

The victim, wearing his Black Power vest, had been walking from his friend’s house to his partner’s house in Mangere East just after 4pm on September 22, 2024, when he encountered Meleisea and an unknown man sitting in a parked Nissan Lafesta on the side of the road.

“As the complainant walked near the car, he stopped by the passenger window and spoke to the defendant,” the agreed summary of facts for the case states. “He then got into the backseat of the car, and the unknown male got into the backseat of the car with the complainant.”

A short time later, the complainant got out of the car and started running, with Meleisea and the unknown man giving chase. After catching up to him, they dragged him along the concrete by his patch to a grass verge next to the car.

Meleisea and his unidentified mate tried to wrestle the patch off the victim, who resisted. The unknown man then dealt several blows, including stomping the victim’s back and punching him in the head and the back, while the defendant continued to try to take the patch.

As the attack continued, Meleisea also delivered blows, at one point straddling the victim’s prone body as he punched him in the head, and while the other man kicked the victim in the back of his head.

Eventually, the two removed the patch, and the unknown male hurried back to the car, court documents state. The victim at that point was unmoving, but Meleisea walked up to him and stomped his head.

Meleisea, who had earlier been a passenger in the car, then got into the driver’s seat, starting the vehicle.

“The complainant remained motionless on the grass kerb,” court documents state. “The defendant mounted the grass kerb and intentionally drove directly over the complainant’s body, causing the complainant to move in the same direction as the car.”

Meleisea then sped away.

The victim later had emergency surgery for his many injuries, which included a collapsed lung, a ruptured spleen and damage to the main artery in his abdomen. He also suffered fractures to his face and six ribs.

The victim did not appear in court for the brief arraignment hearing.

A more substantial hearing is expected in May, when Meleisea is set to be sentenced.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.

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