Sportsman arrested after two women hurt

A hockey player has been arrested over incidents in Auckland yesterday.

A provincial hockey player has been arrested over an alleged hit-and-run and is being investigated in relation to an attack on a sex worker.

Detectives and serious crash unit officers are working together to determine what happened in central Auckland early yesterday.

About 4.30am, a sex worker, 43, was assaulted, and minutes later a Wellington woman, 36, was hit by a Ford Laser while getting out of a taxi in Ponsonby Rd.

Police found the car abandoned on Sarsfield St in nearby Herne Bay and its owner at a house in Hillcrest on the North Shore hours later.

A 22-year-old forecourt attendant was arrested and charged with reckless driving causing injury and failing to ascertain injury after a crash.

He is due to appear in the Auckland District Court next week.

The Weekend Herald understands the man is a member of a national hockey league team.

Avondale Detective Sergeant Jason McIntosh refused to confirm the accused man's identity as the matter was before the courts.

He said police were speaking to the 22-year-old in relation to the attack on the sex worker, who was not seriously hurt. She would be spoken to over the weekend, Mr McIntosh said.

Meanwhile, the Wellington woman was yesterday in a stable condition in Auckland City Hospital after surgery on a "severely injured leg".

Mr McIntosh said police would speak to the taxi driver and other witnesses and view closed-circuit television footage if it could be obtained.

He urged anyone with information about the alleged hit-and-run to contact him on (09)820 5781.