Police Minister Judith Collins says she believes the heroic actions of an off-duty police officer, seriously injured after he tried to break up a fight in Tuakau, near Auckland, may have saved a young girl's life.
Constable John Connolly, 39, tried to stop a fight between two teenage girls in Tuakau, in Franklin District, on Friday night, that was being watched by a group of up to 40 young people.
Police say he was set upon by youths who had been watching the fight, and later collapsed.
He suffered a fractured skull, a punctured lung, serious facial injuries, a broken jaw, a broken ankle and missing teeth in what police describe as a sustained attack by more than one person.
Police Minister Judith Collins, who visited the officer in hospital on Sunday, says she is appalled by the attack and is praising his bravery.
Ms Collins also visited a Whangarei officer recovering from serious facial injuries after an assault by a suspected drunk driver.
She says officers have her full backing to do whatever it takes to protect both themselves and the innocent public.
Police investigation
A police spokesperson says they are putting more officers on the Tuakau case because they have so many people to interview.
Superintendent Mike Bush says police have credible information about who the attackers are.
He is urging the parents of the attackers to contact the police, and would like to hear from any other witnesses including a bus driver and truck driver who stopped at the incident.
Superintendent Bush says a number of people who were at the scene knew the man as an off-duty police officer.
"Our off-duty officer was set upon by at least one person initially, from behind, knocked to the ground and at that stage received a beating from more than one person and including a number of kicks and possibly stomps."
He praised those who came to the aid of the officer, but warned people must weigh up the risks to themselves before stepping in to a similar situation.
Superintendent Bush says the officer, who is in the high dependency unit at Middlemore Hospital, had regained consciousness and was in a serious but stable condition.
