A Saturday night out in Sydney’s eastern suburbs ended in chaos, with a man taken to hospital, blood left on the footpath and distressed bystanders shouting for an ambulance after an alleged street assault was caught on security cameras.
Emergency services were called to Coogee Bay Rd in Coogee about 11pm on Saturday following reports of an assault.
Security footage from the area appears to capture the moments leading up to the confrontation before it escalated into violence.
In the vision, a small group — including a younger man wearing a white shirt and the alleged victim — can be seen standing on the street, talking and embracing.
Moments later, the footage appears to show the younger man slap the 41-year-old before moving towards him.
The older man is seen stepping backwards with his hands raised, appearing to shield himself and ward off further blows, before he ends up on the ground as others quickly move in to help.
A woman can be heard urgently calling for someone to phone an ambulance while bystanders place the injured man on his side.
The vision then appears to show members of the group attempting to return towards the fallen man, before the woman pushes one of them away.
“Look what you’ve done to him,” she yelled.
Paramedics treated the 41-year-old man at the scene before taking him to the Prince of Wales Hospital.
Police from Eastern Beaches Police Area Command began investigating, arresting a 26-year-old man at the scene before taking him to Maroubra Police Station.
He was later charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and refused bail to appear before court on Sunday.
