Teenage boy run over after group fight

A teenage boy is in hospital with serious leg injuries after a vicious assault in Tauranga on Friday night.

The 16-year-old was attacked about 11pm after a fight outside a tenpin bowling alley.

Nicholas McDonnell from Mt Maunganui and Lewis Atkinson-Gibbs from Pukehina, both 20, appeared in the Tauranga District Court yesterday charged with assault. They were remanded on bail until their next court appearance.

Detective Senior Sergeant Darryl Brazier would not name the injured teen, but said the assault was not gang-related.

"We believe his injuries are a result of being run over at the scene. There was a fight between two groups. One person has been knocked to the ground and kicked and as the vehicle has left it would appear the vehicle has run over this person - whether intentionally or not we don't know."

Brazier said the 16-year-old was seen by surgeons yesterday and despite a "severely bad leg injury" was doing okay.

Bowling alley owner Mark Stretton was locking up when the incident happened.

"It was all over before I knew what was happening," he said. "They all took off in two cars. I have no idea who they were."

The attack came six days after 65-year-old Tauranga grandmother Mary Loader was seriously hurt when a bottle of beer thrown from a car smashed in her face.

Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby said the attacks were a sign of a national problem that needed to be addressed in every Kiwi home.

anna.leask@hos.co.nz