An elderly man was allegedly bashed during a gutless attack after he asked a group of shoppers to stop throwing food items all over the ground. Photo / Facebook
An elderly man was allegedly bashed during a gutless attack after he asked a group of shoppers to stop throwing food items all over the ground. Photo / Facebook
An elderly man was bashed by four shoppers at an Auckland Pak'nSave on Monday afternoon.
The 74-year-old man was shopping at the Clendon supermarket about 4pm when he saw four shoppers throwing items off the shelves and on to the ground.
After approaching them and asking them to stop, he was verbally abused and followed to the checkout, a family member posted on social media.
"One dude told my Dad to get f***ed... My Dad then made his way to the checkout and told staff to do something about these guys," the post said.
According to the man's son, the four suspects then continued to hurl abuse before bashing him, breaking the 74-year-old nose, and leaving him with face and jaw injuries.
"My Dad happened to look back at the checkout and the four guys were staying at the back of him and started to swear at my Dad. My Dad turned around again to say something instead he got smashed in the face and broke his nose and damaged his jaw..!!!
"You little c***s. You have messed with the person and Aiga [family].
"You think you're hard smashing a 74-year-old man and breaking his nose."
These are the four shoppers who allegedly were involved in the assault of a 74-year-old man at Clendon Pak'n Save on Monday. Photo / Supplied
Foodstuffs' Head of External Relations Antoinette Laird confirmed to the Herald that the incident took place on Monday and said police were immediately called.
"I can confirm that on Monday afternoon, a very upsetting incident occurred at our PAK'nSAVE Clendon store. An elderly gentleman was attacked by a group of youths who were in the process of deliberately damaging stock on shelf.
"The Police were called immediately and the matter is now part of an ongoing investigation. As such we are not able to comment on the details any further.
"The safety of our customers and staff is absolutely paramount and we will be doing everything required to assist the Police in their investigation.
"We have also reached out to the customer to follow up on how he is doing – he is a regular customer of the store and the team, understandably, are anxious to know he is OK following the incident."
Many called on social media for instant justice while wishing the 74-year-old a speedy recovery.
"How disgusting to hit a defenceless old man, they must have been very brave boys. Such a lack of respect for the elderly!!! I hope these low lives are found and dealt with accordingly," one person said.
Another wrote: "My prayers and thoughts are with him and hope he recovers well. Justice will be served to these little f***ers and I hope it hurts them bad."
The family's social media post has been shared more than 1300 times, gaining more than 7100 reactions.
The attack comes months after a fight between two customers at Mangere Pak'n Save led to an all-in brawl in October.
