A Hamilton man has been charged with assault after a video showing a gang member whacking a would-be car thief in the head surfaced online.
The 80-second clip showed a man believed to be a Mongrel Mob gang member berating a young man in the passenger seat of a moving vehicle, accusing him of trying to steal it.
The teen tells the driver he was just trying to fix the car, before he's smacked in the face.
It was uploaded to Facebook by a young man whose account features a number of photographs of people wearing Mongrel Mob gear.
The video had been watched hundreds of thousands of times before police became aware of it.
The 27-year-old accused will appear in Hamilton District Court on September 27.
Police had no further comment to make.
Earlier this month, Hawke's Bay police arrested a number of Mongrel Mob members during the biggest meth bust in the region's history.
Newshub.
