Police are investigating an attack on two men by a group of offenders in the early hours of Saturday morning. Photo / Supplied
WARNING: Graphic content.
A witness to a "violent, frenzied" attack in central Auckland on Sunday morning has described thinking one of the victims was dead when he arrived at the scene.
Dennis Leau was in town with his partner Sianna Tohilima and their friends when they came across a group of people involved in a fight on Queen St about 2.30am.
"We thought something was going on so we ran down to have a look and there were two dudes on the floor getting booted in the head.
"There was blood everywhere and they were booting them in the head, face and everything," he said.
"At first when I looked down I thought, 'oh shit, this fella looks like he is dead', but they were still booting him. I thought, 'that is enough, man'."
Leau said from then on all he was worried about were the two victims.
"He didn't move or do anything, even when they were kicking him in the face he made no noises or anything.
"Their faces were really swollen and mashed up and one of them was bleeding out of their ear. It was ugly.
"I was just thinking of the safety of those two guys."
Leau and a friend attempted to stop the fight.
"There was just us two against a whole group of people, but they looked like little boys.
"We were throwing them all off as some were kicking and some were standing over the top and throwing punches."
He said once they intervened, the group tried to pick a fight with them.
"But they were on the back foot. We just tried to keep them back, it was gruesome stuff, man. There was just blood everywhere."
Leau said there were about three females in the group who were scratching, kicking and swearing at the victims, and there were about 12 people all up.
He said the beating lasted a short time longer before the group ran off.
The police took about 20 minutes to show up to the scene, and didn't question him, he said.
"All those guys had left far before they got there."
He said the victims looked older than the offenders, who appeared to be teenagers.
"I would say they weren't legal, and wouldn't even be able to get into a club. They just looked like they were walking around.
"It was disgusting and disturbing to see little kids doing that to vulnerable people.
"To carry on while they are still unconscious, wow, man, that is meaningless," he said.
"In a country where I live and grew up in thinking it was the most safest and greatest place, I didn't expect anything like that, especially from young people.
"At that age you would think they would have more respect and know when enough is enough."
Another witness and friend of Leau's, Hayden Etuata, said he stood over one of the victims to protect him.
"I stood over his body and was telling them to leave and they just circling and coming in and out, kicking him in the head.
"They were everywhere, when we stopped one guy coming from one direction, another would come from a different direction.
"They were knocked out but they were still going so I was saying, 'you don't have to do this, you have to go'. It was pretty crazy."
Etuata said he is a "talk it out sort of guy" so he tried to encourage the offenders to stop.
"That is not how you should act," he said.
He said one of the victims was fully knocked out, while the other was semi-conscious with blood gushing from his nose.
"In a matter of minutes after the group left, the semi-conscious guy was up on his feet and saying he was all good," he said.
"He had blood all over his face, so someone gave him a bottle of water. It was bad."
Etuata said the group looked like young Polynesians.
"My brother is Samoan and they were trying to speak to him in another language but he couldn't understand it," he said.
Police described the attack as "absolutely appalling".
The two victims were walking along Queen St, near the Mecca Maxima store, at approximately 2.30am when the group of around eight male offenders set upon them, rendering both men unconscious in an absolutely appalling attack, police said.
One of the victims had commented that he liked the music the group were listening to - however this was the only interaction the men had before the attack, police said.
Both victims remain in hospital recovering from their injuries. Police said the condition of the victim initially assessed as critical had since improved.
While the assault was captured on CCTV footage, Detective Constable Tom Malcolm of the Auckland City police unit said this was too graphic for release.
"We know our community will be absolutely shocked by this crime - two innocent members of our community simply having a night out when they were attacked," he said.
"Given the random nature of this attack we believe this could have happened to anyone so it is important we identify these offenders and hold them to account as soon as possible."
Malcolm requested anyone who might recognise the men in the pictures to come forward to help identify them.
He also thanked members of the community who stepped in to help the victims.
"They put themselves in danger to prevent any further injury to these men and we commend their actions."
DC Malcolm can be contacted on 09 213 8683 - or witnesses can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.