Police vow to track down cowardly cop attacker following A-League Grand Final violence

Melbourne’s A-League Grand Final celebrations were overshadowed by pre-game violence, as a police officer was hospitalised after being kicked in the face.

Police are on the hunt for a man who kicked a police officer in the face before Saturday night’s A-League Grand Final. Picture: David Caird

Police are on the hunt for a man who kicked a police officer in the face in the fracas that occurred before Saturday night’s A-League Grand Final on Swan St.

The officer had to be taken to hospital where he was treated to a gash to his chin with the offender responsible for the attack yet to be found.

CBD Acting Commander Zorka Dunstan said they were determined to track down the offender responsible for the cowardly attack.

“It’s disappointing,” she said. “It was completely unprovoked. We’re never there to try and cause issues. We’re there to try and maintain public order and community safety.

“So it’s extremely disappointing. Regardless of whether it’s a minor injury or not, it is just unacceptable.

“There’s an ongoing investigation. We believe we might have some suspects, so hopefully we’ll see some action soon.

“He’s got a cut to the chin, and it had to be glued together, fortunately it wasn’t any more serious than that.”

A ;large group of fans gathered on Swan St before marching towards AAMI park ahead of the A-League final. Picture: Diego Fedele

Cops said what should have been an “exciting and vibrant” night for Melbourne, was tarnished by the inappropriate and dangerous pre-game behaviour, with Commander Dunstan defending the large police presence.

“It was based on the intelligence we had,” she said. “And we’ve seen some really concerning behaviours in the past.

“So we responded accordingly with a mixture of our specialist resources and general duty officers as well.

“We weren’t there to try and cause issues, we were there to try and maintain public order and community safety.”

Speaking at Austin Health in Heidelberg on Sunday morning Minister for Police Anthony Carbines also defended the police turnout before the game.

“We make no apologies for having a very strong police presence,” he said.

“History shows that when there’s A-League finals, there’s on occasions been trouble.”

Police have defended the large presence before the game. Picture: Diego Fedele

“We want to send a very clear message to spectators and those that are attending football, that they’re also got obligations to the rest of the community.

“Most people took that message on board and enjoyed a great game, enjoyed a great night out with their family and friends and that’s what we want to see and I believe that Police, in their strong presence sent a very clear message.”

Originally published as Police vow to track down cowardly cop attacker following A-League Grand Final violence