Police arrest man following alleged Avalon speargun attack
A man has tonight been arrested following the alleged speargun attack on another man in the northern beaches. The injured man has since been released from hospital but charged with contravening an apprehended violence order.
NSW
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A dreadlocked man last seen with his pet dingo is being arrested by police after an alleged speargun shooting on Sydney’s northern beaches.
The alleged victim in the bizarre incident — 48-year-old local John Vincent Dunne — has been left not only nursing a stab wound but facing a criminal charge after police charged him for contravening an apprehended violence order.
After an intensive search and appeal to the public, police were called to a fast food restaurant on Pittwater Rd, Brookvale at 6.30pm on Saturday.
A 35-year-old man was found unresponsive in the carpark and was arrested. He was taken to Manly Police Station for questioning.
The alleged saga began outside a home on North Avalon Rd in Avalon just before 5pm on Friday.
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Neighbours heard arguing before Mr Dunne was allegedly shot at close range with a speargun, according to police.
The spear hit his chest, narrowly missing his heart.
“The attack continued, allegedly, after the spear attack with a knife or something — a sharp weapon,” Northern Beaches police Detective Chief Inspector Michael Boutouridis said.
“The injured man was able to get into his own car and drive away and hold the spear and stem any bleeding.”
Mr Dunne managed to drive several hundred metres before pulling over on Coonanga Rd and asking for help.
Surf life saver Ashley Cardiff grabbed a first aid kit and ran up to Mr Dunne’s car.
“(The victim) was in the driver’s seat and the spear was lodged in his chest,” he said.
“We tried to keep him calm and monitor his breathing. He went through stages of being agitated [about what had happened].”
Mr Cardiff said the victim sounded like he knew who the attacker was.
“When I first got there he didn’t seem too bad,” he said.
“He had his eyes closed and had a bit of blood on his face. He kind of wanted to pull it out but we had to stop him.”
Mr Dunne was flown to Royal North Shore Hospital but was released on Saturday and arrested.
He was charged with contravening an AVO, which stems from an incident in May.
He will appear in court on Tuesday.
Chief Insp Boutouridis said police searched headlands for the alleged attacker but urged the public not to approach him.
Tactical police searched the home on Friday night looking for a Caucasian man with dreadlocks, about 190cm tall with his pet dog ‘Dingo’.
“We know he’s been sleeping rough — in cars and sleeping in caves on the northern beaches headland,” Chief Insp Michael Boutouridis said.
Police say the attack would be classified as wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, a serious crime carrying a sentence of up to 25 years imprisonment.
“He had a spear protruding from his chest and he was obviously in agony,” Chief Insp Michael Boutouridis said.
“He was taken to North Shore Hospital where it was established that the spear narrowly missed his heart, he’s a very lucky man to be alive, we would have otherwise been talking about a murder.”
Chief Insp Boutouridis said the man had allegedly been shot at close range.
“It wasn’t a random attack, the two men knew each other … this was a meeting that obviously went wrong,” he said.
* Additional reporting from AAP
Originally published as Police arrest man following alleged Avalon speargun attack
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