Jasmeet Madan owns Ferry Indian Street Food in Moray Pl and was there on Monday when an intoxicated man allegedly damaged one of his statues.
He and a staff member ran outside and told him to ‘‘move on’’.
‘‘He started showing us dirty fingers and all that stuff and using bad words,’’ Mr Madan told the Otago Daily Times.
Down the road at his other business, Only Ur’s Beauty Parlour, Mr Madan’s wife and other staff members were working.
They saw the intoxicated man banging on a glass door so he told his wife to lock up.
The man allegedly swore at Mr Madan before punching him in the cheek, causing him to fall to the ground.
Members of the public and his staff came to his aid and police were called.
But the man came back and hit him again before police arrived, he said.
‘‘Four or five cops came running and they had to tackle him together to put him in the car.’’
The business owner said the attack came as a shock.
‘‘I won’t say I was afraid or scared, but it’s something that happens to you all of a sudden.
‘‘You can’t imagine that this can happen to us.
‘‘[Dunedin is] such a lovely place to live in and everyone is so warm and welcome over here.’’
Business was tough enough without such explosive interruptions, Mr Madan said.
‘‘I even lost a couple of customers in my beauty parlour because of this.
‘‘The ladies were so afraid, they just went away.
‘‘They didn’t get the [treatments] done.’’
Yesterday, he went to the police station to have photos taken of his injuries - a swollen cheek and a sore foot.
The restaurant would open today as usual.
Sergeant Matt Lee, of Dunedin, said police were called to the incident at 2.10pm after a member of the public approached a 38-year-old man lying in a public windowsill to see if he needed medical attention.
The intoxicated man became ‘‘enraged’’ by this and chased the woman along the street before the confrontation with Mr Madan.
The man allegedly attempted to gain entry to multiple businesses in the street.
When he was located by police he was ‘‘extremely intoxicated’’ and ‘‘aggressive’’ and had to be pepper-sprayed, Sgt Lee said.
He is expected to appear in the Dunedin District Court this week facing charges of assault, wilful damage and a historic charge of shoplifting.
