Northern Territory police are calling for witnesses after an alleged unprovoked attack on staff members and patrons at an Alice Springs club overnight.
Police watch commander Senior Sergeant Andrew Heath said there were four individuals involved in the incident at Club Eastside, which included the alleged assault of a 63-year-old patron who was taken to Alice Springs Hospital with cuts to his hands and bruises to his face and head.
Senior Sergeant Heath said police arrested an 18-year-old man at 10:50pm in the town CBD.
"So he's in police custody and will be in Alice Springs court today."
'Horrific assault'
Club Eastside general manager Deryck Goodman said he had never witnessed an attack like this in his five years working at the club.
Mr Goodman said the staff member advised that police would be called if the man did not leave, which aggravated the individual.
"[He] just went ballistic and destroyed the front reception area's computer and phone [which he threw] at the staff member who very luckily just dodged and was just missed. So a very scary incident."
Mr Goodman said the individual can be seen on the premises' CCTV leaving on his bike to a neighbouring drain, where he allegedly picked up a star picket and returned to the club.
"Staff tried to lock the front door, but he was running into the venue already. So there was no time," he said.
Man 'threatened staff and members with weapon'
Mr Goodman alleged that once the man was back in the venue, he chased patrons and threatened staff with the star picket.
Two patrons and a club board member helped to restrain and remove the man to the outside of the building, where the violence reportedly escalated.
It is alleged other people got involved and started attacking the three members who had got the individual outside.
A 63-year-old man was taken to Alice Springs hospital with cuts to his hands and bruises to his face and head.
"I dropped him down to hospital myself," Mr Goodman said.
"He's doing OK and was released last night and he's back up and around but has a terrible looking black eye and bad bruising."
Mr Goodman said the CCTV footage was shocking.
"For the members that stepped in, it's their venue, they come to relax and enjoy it.
"To be a witness or be involved in this sort of incident is extremely horrifying."
Call for parliamentary inquiry into crime
Robyn Lambley, the Independent Member for Araluen, called on the Northern Territory government to take crime in Alice Springs seriously.
"It is my job to make sure that everything I can do possible is done to reduce crime, to address crime, and to keep people safe to look at every possible strategy there used to prevent and reduce crime and that's my job," she said.
"The Chief Minister is actually paid to provide a safe life for Territorians and he's not doing it."
Ms Lambley said the crime statistics spoke for themselves with the latest crime statistics, from February 2021 to February this year, showing crimes against a person in Alice Springs had risen by 9.62 per cent and crime against property up 40.41 per cent.
"If they throw this out of Parliament tomorrow, I will be more disgusted than probably I've been forever," she said.
