Police were called to Great King St at 2.30pm, following reports a pyjama-clad patient had assaulted a warden.
Senior Sergeant Brian Benn, of Dunedin, said a 34-year-old man is alleged to have pulled the warden off his scooter and removed his helmet before scratching him in the face and gouging his eye. The man has been charged with assault and will appear in Dunedin District Court later this month.
The parking warden declined to comment at the scene yesterday.
Parking services team leader Daphne Griffen said it was the first time the experienced warden had been attacked. He has been given until Monday to recover from the ordeal.
"He is quite shaken up."
It was not the first incident involving parking wardens in the area, and it was difficult to prepare staff for such unprovoked events, Ms Griffen said. Such assaults affected staff morale.
Last Monday, a riderless parking services scooter knocked down a pedestrian and narrowly missed several others after it was maliciously set loose by a member of the public while the parking warden was writing a ticket.
In 2008, an angry motorist drove into an officer and his scooter, before driving to the Dunedin Central Police Station to confess.
