Relatives of the pizza delivery man who was attacked and cut overnight in north Melbourne say they “have no idea” how he will recover.
The 22-year-old driver was about to make a delivery on Glenroy’s Aspley Street around midnight last night when a stranger approached him from behind, police said.
The unknown offender threatened the driver while holding a sharp weapon and then hit the driver in the face with it, cutting him from mouth to ear.
The man was cut while handing out a pizza. (New) An attacker is fleeing after a pizza delivery man was cut in the face. (new)
The offender then fled with the driver’s wallet.
“(The driver) had just given them the fifty dollars he had,” the Snappy’s Pizza Shop manager said.
“They said we needed more and he didn’t have any more, so they just started killing his face with a knife or a blade.”
The injured Thomastown driver returned to the pizzeria for help.
Senior Detective Thomas Gall said the driver of the cast had suffered a “life-changing injury,” which could have been fatal if he had been slightly amputated.
“He has a deep, nasty laceration on his face,” Gall said.
“Given the depth of the cheek injury, if the injury was a little lower, in the neck, it could have been extremely serious and potentially fatal.”
Relatives of the victim say they have no idea how he will recover mentally. (new)
The driver was trying to deliver pizza to customer Clinton Syms, who was at his home when the restaurant called to tell him his driver had been attacked.
“The next one the police arrive, and it’s all cordoned off,” he said.
“The restaurant called and said your pizza is in front and take a look to see if your pizza is there.
“It was, but I was on the ground and I got scared and went inside.
“I turned quickly and went back inside. The driver, I heard, is quite injured.”
The man who had ordered the pizza, Clinton Syms (new)
Gall said the man would undergo surgery after being “extremely unfortunate” for being the target of the “shameful and unprovoked attack”.
Relatives fear the victim will never recover either mentally or physically.
They say he is a student and only moved here a few years ago from India to help support his parents.
I had only been working as a driver for a couple of weeks.
Police are now working to find the person responsible for the attack.
They say it is “very worrying to the police” that the man was fleeing.
CCTV footage of a man police want to talk to after an attack on a delivery driver. (new)
It has been described that the man was 180 cm tall, had dark skin and wore a black water jacket.
Anyone with information or witnesses is asked to contact the police.