The 15-year-old feels like he will have to keep looking over his shoulder after being punched in the face multiple times by another teenager near the intersection of Great King and St Andrew Sts on Monday afternoon.
His father, who declined to be named, said his son had a suspected broken nose and was "pretty shaken up".
"It’s really messing with his head.
"He was just minding his own business, trying to get home, and this guy’s come out of nowhere without even saying anything, and just laid into him.
"It was so blatant."
He said it was lucky his son was not more seriously injured.
"If he had been knocked down and he had hit his head on the concrete, he could have been really hurt.
"Incidents like that have killed people in the past.
"People need to know how serious this behaviour is."
The father was "livid" about the attack and called on the offender’s parents to help make him accountable.
"What are you going to do about it? Get him under control."
He said his son spent yesterday at home, recovering, but was not keen to return to school in a hurry because he was now very nervous about being around large groups of people.
Sergeant Matt Lee, of Dunedin, said the 15-year-old suspect was not known to the victim.
He said the teen ran off after the assault, but police were able to apprehend him quickly because it was witnessed by a member of the public who was on a bus at the hub.
He got off the bus and followed the suspect all the way to the Meridian Mall, Sgt Lee said.
"Police located him inside the mall.
"He unsuccessfully attempted to run from police."
The teen was charged with assault and would appear in the Dunedin Youth Court tomorrow.
Sgt Lee praised the actions of the man on the bus.
"He gave us details of where the offender was so we could pretty much locate him straight away.
"Without that, we wouldn’t have had such a quick result."
