A WARRNAMBOOL man faces criminal charges after a fight between two groups in Hamilton yesterday left one man with serious facial injuries.
Sergeant Peter Freeman of Hamilton police said the injured man had been just passing by and tried to break up the fight.
He said police were still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, which involved two groups of both men and women.
A Warrnambool man, 24, and a Murray Bridge man, 19, were interviewed and charged yesterday with assault-related offences. They have been bailed to appear in Hamilton Magistrates Court on a date to be fixed.
Sergeant Freeman said three people received minor injuries and one man was admitted to Hamilton hospital with a suspected broken jaw after the Lonsdale Street altercation at 3.25am.
"The information we have received is that the two groups, involving both men and women, were involved in this incident.
"The man who has suffered the broken jaw was not part of one of these groups," he said. "We have been told he was just passing by and tried to break up the fight before suffering the injury.
Police have called for any witnesses to come forward.
Meanwhile, a Koroit man has been charged with failing to obey a police instruction after he refused to pull over on the Princes Highway near Werribee on Friday afternoon.
The man, 42, was travelling about 100 km/h in a utility when he was instructed to pull over.
The driver refused and a 10-minute police pursuit followed before the man eventually stopped.