Sydney Covid drive-through testing road rage attack caught on video: Hussein Saleh, Ali Salim
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Disgusting moment in which two men brutally beat a couple who had complained that the wife of the attacker had gotten in line at a Covid testing center
- Two plead guilty to assault in a Covid test queue
- Couple of drivers attacked while waiting in line at the self-service
- Hussein Saleh and Ali Salim still to be sentenced
Two men have pleaded guilty to a terrifying assault on a driver waiting for a Covid test during the height of the pandemic.
Footage shows Hussein Saleh, 34, and Ali Salim, 35, arriving at a Covid-19 test line on December 28, 2021, in Carlton, a southern suburb of Sydney.
The two then attack a couple in a LandCruiser Prado, and Saleh is seen punching and stomping the victims through a sunroof as the vehicle moves forward.
A statement of agreed facts filed with the Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday indicated that Saleh’s wife, who was driving a white Lexus, cut into line at an intersection in front of the LandCruiser, whose driver and passenger had already waited three hours.
The male driver of the LandCruiser and the female passenger got out and approached the Lexus before returning to his car and honking loudly.
Saleh’s wife called him and he arrived a short time later with his old friend Salim when their white truck pulled up next to the LandCruiser.
Hussein Saleh can be seen climbing onto the roof of a Prado to launch an assault on the driver of the vehicle who was waiting in line for the Covid test in Sydney during 2021
After attempting to break the driver’s window with a screwdriver and breaking the driver’s side rear view mirror, Saleh climbed onto the roof of the vehicle.
He then stomped the driver and passenger through the sunroof and showered them with blows.
Salim managed to get into the back seat of the LandCruiser where he hit the driver on the head, causing injuries.
During the attack, the LandCruiser rolled forward and collided with the rear of the Lexus in which Saleh’s wife and mother were also traveling, sending other cars lined up sideways from the impact.
Saleh and Salim pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm and common battery, while Saleh also pleaded guilty to damaging property for the incident.
Police prosecutor Sergeant James Glissan told the court the men had engaged in “vigilantism” that put the safety of those waiting in line at risk, according to the daily telegraph.
Defense attorney for both men, Michael Ayache, said Saleh reacted instinctively because his wife called out to him screaming in terror.
Saleh pleaded guilty to the disgusting attack in which he stomped and rained blows on a driver and a passenger.
“His instinct was to protect his family and that took him so far that he really lost sight of what he should have done,” Ayache said.
Ayache said the pandemic had caused high levels of stress for everyone, including LandCruiser occupants who expressed frustration at believing the Lexus had jumped the queue.
He said his client made a ‘very bad decision to overreact’, it was an isolated incident, the driver had no ongoing injuries and both men they were sorry.
Judge Hugh Donnelly adjourned the case for sentencing on March 28.