A MAN was struck by a car on Maroondah Highway last Monday night after fleeing an ambulance in which he punched a paramedic.
The incident followed a brawl involving five men in Lilydale at 8.40pm, which resulted in one man being placed in an induced coma at The Alfred hospital.
In a frantic chain of events, police and ambulances were called to the brawl in Pine Street in which three of the men suffered varying injuries. Each of the injured men was placed in a separate ambulance, but one man, a 29-year-old from Bayswater North, became aggressive and punched a male paramedic who was treating him in the back of the ambulance.
Police escorting the ambulance wrestled the man from the vehicle after it stopped on Maroondah Highway in Chirnside Park. The man attempted to cross the highway when he was struck by a car.
He suffered a broken leg and head injuries and was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The Ambulance Victoria paramedic was treated at the scene for facial injuries.