A man has been arrested and charged following an alleged assault in a Beaconsfield shopping centre carpark last November that allegedly left a good Samaritan with a fractured eye socket.
Police allege a 38-year-old Officer man was assaulted after attempting to intervene in a fight between two men in a carpark on Old Princes Highway just before 9.30pm on 28 November.
The victim, Ryan Isles, was with his 13-year-old son at the time when the altercation, believed to have begun at a nearby business, spilled into the carpark. It is believed the parties involved were not known to each other.
Police allege Mr Isles stepped in to break up the fight when he was suddenly elbowed and punched, causing him to fall and strike his head on the concrete and briefly lose consciousness.
He was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, including a fractured eye socket that required surgery. The injuries significantly impacted his ability to eat and drink in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
His son, who witnessed the incident, was not physically injured and remained with his father until emergency services arrived, while the alleged offender fled the scene.
A 41-year-old Pakenham man was arrested in Pakenham on Friday and has been charged with affray, recklessly causing injury and common law assault.
He has been bailed to appear at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 18 May.
The arrest follows a public appeal for information after investigators released CCTV footage and images of the alleged offender.
Speaking previously, Senior Constable Sam Kung described the attack as “completely unprovoked, extremely disgusting and disturbing”.
Mr Isles believed he was “doing the right thing by trying to stop it before it escalated”.
