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An Auckland rugby player has told police how he ran away from a man thought to be the serial Remuera attacker.
Detective Sergeant Mark Rowbottom from Glen Innes police, said a young rugby player training at nearby Liston Park told police he saw a man he now believed was the attacker, advancing on him in a threatening manner.
"The guy made a bee-line for him. The player saw him coming towards him and thought `this guy is going to have a go at me for no reason'," Mr Rowbottom said.
The player grabbed his gear and ran. He did not report the incident until after he found out about the other attacks.
Mr Rowbottom said he believed there were probably other victims.
He said the attacker "has got issues".
"I don't know what they are - whether he gets kicks out of it..."
The latest incident comes after a different man told police how he nearly became a victim of the attacker, who has claimed four victims in and around the Waiatarua Reserve in Remuera.
Last weekend he knocked a 63-year-old woman off her bike, then threw it off a footbridge into a stream.
Police are concerned that the attacker, described as a tall, fat Maori or Pacific Islander will seriously hurt or kill someone if he is not stopped.
Mr Rowbottom said the man needed to give himself up so he could get the help he needed.
Someone else would know him as his behaviour was likely to be erratic and possibly violent at home.
Police were all but convinced the man lived near the Waiatarua Reserve, Mr Rowbottom said.
People could talk to police in confidence, he said.
"I just want to get this guy and get him off the street and if he needs help, get him some help."
- NZPA
