Man stabbed twice in road rage attack
30 Mar, 2005 11:46 PM
A MAN underwent
emergency surgery
yesterday after being
stabbed twice during a
road rage attack in
Wendouree.
The man, 50, sus
tained stab wounds to
his stomach and arm in
a scuffle with another
driver at 1.45pm.
Police are now on the
hunt for the offender,
in his 20s, who fled as
several witnesses
watched.
The assault occurred
after a Mitsubishi
Pajero four-wheel
drive and a blue Ford
Falcon collided at the
south entrance to
Stockland Wendouree
in Gillies St.
Police were working
on a number of leads,
and have a good de
scription of the
suspect.
They were confident
an arrest could be
made as early as today.
So far police have
only revealed the
suspect is aged in his
20s and was wearing a
red top.
The offender fled in
his black four-wheel
drive, leaving his vic
tim bleeding on the
side of the road.
He sustained a deep
wound to his abdomen
and another to his arm.
A young man was a
passenger in the vic
tim's car and called
emergency services.
A Ballarat Health
Services Base Hospital
nurse was one of the
first to help the man.
The nurse, who did
not want to be named,
said she thought the
man had been hit by a
car because of the large
amount of blood.
The passenger was
clearly agitated by the
incident, and was wav
ing his arms wildly
while speaking to
police. He drove away
in the Ford Falcon.
Rural Ambulance
Victoria spokesperson
Jessica Li said the vic
tim was stable when
transported to the Bal
larat Health Services
Base Hospital about
2pm.
Detective Sergeant
Tony Coxall was lead
ing the investigation
and said the attack
was "very serious".
He said the injuries
were a result of a
"scuffle" between the
two men.
"There was an inci
dent between two ve
hicles, an argument
broke out and some
one's been stabbed," he
said.
"(The offender) is
basically described as
being in his mid-20s
and wearing a red
coloured jumper of
some sort."
Det Sgt Coxall was
reluctant to describe
the attack as "road
rage" at this stage in
the investigation.
"It's too early to say
it's road rage," Det Sgt
Coxall said.
"Two males were in
volved in a scuffle and
the offender de
camped."
Police were quick to
cordon off sections of
Gillies St and the
Stockland Wendouree
carpark.
Ballarat Criminal
Investigations Unit de
tectives and forensic
investigators arrived
at 2.15pm, half an hour
after the attack.
The scene was photo
graphed and swabs of
blood were taken for
analysis.
South-bound traffic
on Gillies St was
blocked about 2.30pm,
causing congestion at
the intersection of Gil
lies and Norman
streets.
Police spent the
afternoon taking
statements, with all
the interview rooms at
the Ballarat Police
Station full.
A Victoria Police
spokesperson said no
details about the
weapon involved would
be released.
She said police
would not reveal the
relationship between
the victim and his
passenger.
No-one at the Balla
rat Health Services
Base Hospital was able
to comment on the vic
tim's condition last
night.
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