Mother holding baby stops softball-bat attack

File photo / APN

A woman holding a 7-week-old baby rushed to the defence of a senior citizen who was being beaten by a man armed with a softball bat at a Tauranga supermarket yesterday.

The victim says he owes the woman his life.

He and his wife had parked in the underground carpark of Pak'n'Save on Cameron Rd at 3pm, when he approached the driver of another car parked nearby.

He believed the driver was responsible for damage to his car from an earlier carpark incident. But the man attacked him.

Two women in their early 20s, who only wanted to be known as Kim and Raewyn, were putting their groceries and children in their car a few metres away when they heard the commotion.

"We came out and saw this guy jump out of his car with a baseball bat," Kim said.

The man with the bat hit the older man a number of times while the man's wife stood "petrified" between the cars. Shocked at what they were seeing, the two young women ran to the couple's defence.

Kim, still holding her 7-week-old baby Jade, ran into the path of the man holding the bat.

"I jumped in front of him and started yelling 'what are you doing? These are old people'."

She said the decision to put herself and her baby at risk was made on adrenaline and urgency.

Meanwhile, Raewyn phoned the police.

Kim said the man with the bat eventually backed off and went back to his car but afterwards "he just kept circling the carpark, eyeballing us, pointing his finger and laughing".

Raewyn said she was scared by the incident. The women had two more young children in their car.

Kim was disgusted by the attack.

"That's an old person. He's ... trying to take on an old man. Who does that?"

Shortly afterwards the victim, still bleeding from his arms, gave the two women $100 each from his wallet.

He told the Bay of Plenty Times he was forever indebted to them. "They saved my life," he said.

The man was left shaken and suffered cuts and bruising.

"There's no telling what would have happened to me without them jumping in the way," he said.

A 21-year-old panelbeater from Papamoa has been charged with assault with a blunt instrument and is expected to appear in Tauranga District Court on Wednesday.

- APN