Teenager bashed in 'vicious' car theft

The parents of the teenage victim of a vicious and unprovoked attack have spoken about how he was beaten up and dragged from his car by a stranger who then stole it.

The attacker was still on the run and the car still missing last night and police fear he may strike again.

Luke Johnston had just finished work at Woolworths in Dargaville about 9pm on Saturday, and was waiting in his white Toyota Starlet for his girlfriend, Rebecca, who also works at the supermarket.

A boy, thought to be aged 16 or 17, jumped over a fence next to the car, opened Mr Johnston's door and punched him in the face twice.

He then yanked Mr Johnston out and dragged him to the front of the car before punching him in the face twice more, kneeling on him and demanding his keys.

He told him to stay on the ground until he drove off.

Bloodied and bruised, Mr Johnston ran back towards the supermarket.

As he did so, his girlfriend started to walk out and he yelled at her to go back inside where he phoned police.

Mr Johnston was taken to hospital but did not have to be admitted.

His mother, Audrey, said her son "never gets in to trouble".

"If it was anyone else, things could have been different. Luke's quite passive. Mind you, he reckons he didn't get a chance to think about anything. It was just 'boof'."

Mrs Johnston said when the police brought her son home he had a ripped shirt and gashes to his legs and arms.

Mr Johnston had recognised the boy as having attended Dargaville High School last year but he did not know his name.

Mr Johnston finished Year 13 last year and was taking a year off to save money before continuing further study, his mother said.

Senior Sergeant Sue Leach, officer in charge of Dargaville police station, said: "It was quite a vicious attack.

"We're always afraid that when he's done it once, he'll do it again - that's why we're appealing to the public.

"This one is certainly of concern because of the unprovoked nature of it ... he's actually staked someone out."

Ms Leach said the teenager would have found it easy to hide behind the fence, which was 1.9m at its highest.

"This is a really good opportunity to highlight the importance of crime prevention by environmental design. If that fence hadn't been so high or so concealing, there's no way the offender could have hidden and the victim would have seen him when he was walking over there."

The attacker is described as Maori, about 16 or 17 years old, of medium build, about 1.7m tall with dark hair.

He was wearing dark shorts and a red hoodie with the sleeves cut off.

The white, two-door hatchback Starlet has black rims and the registration ETN680.