A man whose mother's been left with concussion, a broken nose and damaged teeth after a carjacking in Auckland believes she was targeted because she's vulnerable.
MORE: Woman brutally bashed,dragged from car by teen girls
WATCH: Police release CCTV footageÂ
Sixty-five-year-old Nancy Voon, who's originally from Malaysia, was beaten up by two teenage girls outside the Panmure YMCA in broad daylight yesterday.
They then took off in the car.
Chee Phua thinks his mother was attacked because she's a small person.
"Pretty much just an easy target and I think a big part of it may be she is Asian as well.
"There was just no warnings. They pulled up behind her and dragged her out. The next person it could probably lead to death, I guess. It could be worse."
The family has been here 25 years, and Mr Phua said this is the first time something like this has happened.
"I guess it's just really an eye opener for myself and it needs to be an eye opener for other people as well."
Mr Phua said incidents like this happen but don't really get reported so he wants to make the community aware of what's going on.
"If you're by yourself, lock your car. That's all I can say. It was in broad daylight so that's what makes it worse."
He said there were a lot of people at a skate park opposite when it happened, as well as people in other cars.
A Malaysian woman, Maureen Tan, who's been here for 20 years, thinks Ms Voon was attacked because of her vulnerability, not because she's Asian.
"I think she was targeted because she looked like a vulnerable person. She was probably at the wrong place at the wrong time, really. I think that could have happened to anyone regardless of race."
Police are thanking the public for their response to CCTV footage of a carjacking in Panmure yesterday.
Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Newman said the footage has been viewed thousands of time on their Facebook page as well as shared.
It's also led to comments and reports of people spotting people fitting the description of the offenders.
He said they're still hunting the attackers, and want to hear from anyone with information.
Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you
