Clover Park fight: One person seriously injured after Saturday morning brawl at sports centre

One person has been seriously injured in South Auckland after a Saturday morning brawl, police have confirmed.

The incident occurred on Te Irangi Drive in Clover Park, with police saying they were called to the scene after receiving reports of a disorder incident involving “a large number of people”.

According to responding officers, one person was seriously injured as a result of the fight.

The injured person was taken to hospital for treatment, police said, and inquiries into the matter were ongoing.

One person was seriously injured as a result of the fight, according to responding officers. Photo / Hayden Woodward

A photographer at the scene told the Herald that cordons are currently in place at the entrance of the Manukau Sports Bowl, where it’s understood the fight occurred.

There are also cordons around the carpark.

Eight police staff could be counted at the scene around 10.30am, including detectives and some taking photos.

Two vehicles remain in the carpark, abandoned with police staff working around them, according to the photographer. Police appear to be taking swabs from one vehicle.

The vehicle in question has spots of blood over it.

Alcohol cans and rubbish were littering the carpark and the lingering smell of urine was “robust”, the photographer said, while a dead rat was on the ground nearby swarming with ants.

The Manukau Sports Centre and Velodrome, located between a cluster of residential homes in Clover Park and the southern motorway, has been the scene of troubling incidents in the past.

The velodrome was built for the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games but in the time since, murders and sexual assaults have been committed in the building and its vicinity.

On New Year’s Day last year, a homicide investigation was launched after a man was involved in an incident inside the velodrome.

Police and forensic officers spent the day scouring the area with the sports centre cordoned off to the public.

A photographer at the scene told the Herald that cordons are currently in place at the entrance of the Manukau Sports Bowl. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Back in 2013, it was revealed to the Herald that police were investigating seven sex attacks around the leisure complex in the span of only two months.

The incidents occurred in and around the sports centre, as well as the Gardens/Totara Park area.

“We are concerned about these types of incidents due to the nature and frequency of offending in these areas,” Detective Senior Sergeant, Darrell Harpur said at the time.

Following the homicide, a 67-year-old resident living across the road from the sports centre told the Herald he had complained to police in the past about “rowdy parties” at the velodrome.

“There were shouting and sometimes fights. I called police several times, but nothing was done so I just gave up,” said the local, Kam Singh.

Another nearby resident, named only as Brenda, said her friend was robbed outside the velodrome two years ago at knifepoint.

“The park-like area is a popular place for us locals to go for walks, but it is also very quiet and unsafe,” she said.

Brenda said she stopped going there for walks after her friend was robbed at knifepoint when she went for a walk during Auckland’s first lockdown in early 2020.

Four men were arrested and charged over the New Year’s Day altercation.

It’s understood locals have been campaigning to have the velodrome redeveloped.