A man is in hospital with serious injuries following an assault in Rotorua yesterday.
Police said the 19-year-old local man was with a friend in a cream-coloured vehicle in the parking area outside the Pleasant Heights shops on Thomas Crescent about 2pm when a man approached the vehicle. He assaulted the victim in what police said appeared at this stage to be an unprovoked attack.
The victim sought help at a nearby address but the offender followed him and the continued at the rear of that address.
Friends and family of the 19-year-old man took him to hospital and the police were notified.
Police said the victim was in Rotorua Hospital with serious internal injuries. The victim's friend was also assaulted, though to a lesser extent, police said.