Couple in car confronted by knife-wielding man on popular Bell Park shopping strip, say attack not isolated

Residents in a pair of inner-north Geelong suburbs have reported several instances of a middle-aged man acting in a threatening manner – the latest involving a knife.

There were reports of a man with a knife in Hamlyn Heights on Friday evening. Picture: Stock image.

A Geelong couple say a man wielding a knife charged at them outside a popular Bell Park shopping strip on Friday evening.

The attack, alleged to have occurred on Hughes St just after 6pm, did not result in any injuries and the man fled the scene before police arrived.

The male victim said he and his partner had just entered their car when they saw a middle-aged man “run toward us with a knife”.

“If we had been even a few moments later getting into the car, this could have ended very differently and I could have been seriously hurt,” he said.

The victim said he had heard, predominantly via online community pages, other reports of the man “hurling abuse and threatening” people in Bell Park, Hamlyn Heights and other nearby suburbs.

A Hamlyn Heights resident claimed the same man threatened to kill his brother on Friday while he was mowing his lawns and children were present, before returning at 2am Saturday on a bike with music blaring.

“Obviously he’s having some sort of mental episode, but something needs to be done,” he said.

A police spokeswoman urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.

Originally published as Couple in car confronted by knife-wielding man on popular Bell Park shopping strip, say attack not isolated