What started as a night out in Sydney’s eastern suburbs dramatically turned when a man ended up in a hospital, with blood staining the ground while onlookers urgently called for an ambulance, after a suspected assault was recorded on CCTV.
Authorities received an emergency call around 11 p.m. on Saturday, responding to reports of a physical altercation on Coogee Bay Road in Coogee.
Security cameras captured the tense moments leading up to the escalation that descended into violence.
The footage shows a small group, featuring a younger man dressed in a white shirt and the supposed victim, engaging in conversation and embracing on the street.
Subsequently, the video reveals the young man slapping the 41-year-old, then moving aggressively towards him.
The older man backs away with his hands raised, appearing to try to stop the blows, before he is seen on the ground as others rush in to help.
A woman can be heard yelling for someone to call an ambulance while bystanders roll the injured man onto his side.
The footage then appears to show the group trying to walk back towards the fallen man before the woman pushes one away.
“Look what you’ve done to him,” she yelled.
Paramedics treated the 41-year-old man at the scene before taking him to the Prince of Wales Hospital.
Police from Eastern Beaches Police Area Command began investigating, arresting a 26-year-old man at the scene before taking him to Maroubra Police Station.
He was later charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and refused bail to appear before court on Sunday.