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“I’ve never witnessed anything like this in my life. I was screaming. I genuinely thought they were both going to die,” she said.
The woman confirmed she was assisting the police investigation and is expected to provide a witness statement.
Richmond midfielder Dion Prestia.Credit: Justin McManus
May and Prestia had been celebrating a bucks’ party at the Sorrento Hotel earlier in the evening, while Salter and his friends, who all live on the Mornington Peninsula, were catching up for dinner at the same venue.
Both groups moved to the Continental Hotel about 11pm.
However, when Salter and three friends left the hotel, widely known as “The Conti”, about 1.20am, they claim they encountered May, Prestia and their group on the road.
“There were words between my group and the other group for a bit … then I saw Steven May yelling and screaming, ‘come on, let’s go’, and then I saw him punch (my friend) to the face and then it was on,” Salter said in his police statement made on January 23.
Salter in hospital.
“Whilst I was on the ground, I was kicked multiple times to the back of the head, and all over, but I couldn’t see who was doing this as I was trying to protect my face.”
An apprentice electrician, Salter has been unable to work since the incident after sustaining a broken eye socket, detached retina and fractured nose. He was taken to The Alfred hospital following the attack, and required surgery on January 14 to repair the extensive damage around his left eye.
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Salter’s friend, who was also injured in the fight, was taken to The Alfred hospital after suffering from seizures, low blood pressure and damage to his knee.
This masthead does not suggest his injuries were caused by May or Prestia who have both previously insisted they were not responsible.
The 25-year-old said he was certain the brawl had erupted after he and May began grappling.
“We’d already had words at the Sorrento Hotel, which was when someone told me he was an AFL footballer,” he said.
“There were definitely eight to 10 blokes against us. I remember running away down a path and someone chasing me. I don’t know who it was, but I was found unconscious near a bush.”
The area where the fight occurred is not covered by closed-circuit television cameras.
A Victoria Police spokesman confirmed the matter was the subject of an ongoing investigation.
Richmond Football Club declined to comment. A Melbourne club spokesperson said: “It is the role of police to check the veracity of any complaint, and we will assist where required.”
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May and Prestia both began their AFL careers at the Gold Coast Suns before they were traded to Melbourne and Richmond on lucrative long-term contracts.
May, who has been twice selected in the All-Australian squad, was a key defender in the Demons’ premiership team in 2021.
Prestia has been a star midfielder with Richmond since his trade in 2016 and a premiership player in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
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