"They were looking for trouble."
That was what Fernando Santo thought when he saw a drunken mob arguing shortly before they terrorised a family restaurant and went on a wild rampage through the streets of Northbridge on Saturday night, with one thug allegedly belting an elderly man in the head.
It was supposed to be a quiet night out for Mr Santo and his daughter who was keen to take in a film at the outdoor cinema at a public square on James Street.
Then things turned ugly.
"They were carrying on like pork chops for half an hour," Mr Santo said.
The 47-year-old single father decided to take his five-year-old daughter away from the uncomfortable scene as a couple among the group of eight or nine began to argue amongst themselves.
"They were already intoxicated," he said.
"Just the language was shocking so I moved away with my daughter."
Mr Santo, a truck driver, said two security guards were in the area, just metres from the unruly mob when they unpleasantly erupted.
"Why didn't they ring the police?" he asked.
"I just got away as quickly as I could because I didn't want my little one to see that sort of thing.
"It was just shocking, just terrible.
"They were just looking for trouble."
The police turned up eventually, after families dining at the nearby Outback Jack's restaurant had been terrorised and people attacked by what appears to be a breakaway group of three from the mob that had caused the ruckus at the James Street plaza.
Police allege just before 8pm, a 24-year-old man, from Beechboro, brandishing a knife, threatened customers while others threw chairs and tables in the restaurant.
The 49-year-old manager of the restaurant approached one of the men.
Police claim he was then punched in the head and knocked to the ground, where he was kicked by his attacker.
The offender has been accused of then throwing a chair at a 45-year-old woman in the restaurant, hitting her on the head.
Outback Jacks Manager Raymon Strauss was away from work celebrating his mum's 50th birthday when his family-owned restaurant turned into the scene of the disturbing brawl.
"I think it's quite unfortunate it the way it all panned out and the way the footage portrayed the incident," the 21-year old said.
"We've owned it [the restaurant] for about four months and nothing like this has happened."
Mr Strauss said recent efforts to clean up Northbridge have been successful.
"It's always a great family atmosphere now," he said.
"This is a just a little hiccup on the road."
To distance himself from the chaos at Outback Jacks and to protect his daughter, Mr Santo pushed his pram away from the restaurant but managed to the catch the events unfold.
Police spokeswoman Susan Usher said after the commotion at Outback Jacks the three men ran from the restaurant down James Street towards William Street, causing multiple disturbances.
"It is alleged the 24-year-old man armed himself with chairs and wooden poles, throwing them at people at the intersection of William Street and James Street, before throwing a bottle at a family standing at the intersection," she said.
"The man then ran towards the Cultural Centre and punched a 76-year-old man in the face, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground, injuring his wrist."
The ordeal has left Mr Santo with a tainted perception of the new-look Northbridge which seems to suffer the same old troubles of violence and ant-social behaviour.
"I didn't go to Northbridge for 10 years because of this," Mr Santo said.
The inner city suburb has cleaned up in recent years, drawing families like Mr Santo and his daughter with new festivals and events.
"We have the Night Noodle Market on and there's life everywhere now," he said.
But the latest incident has left Mr Santo wary.
"If that happens again, I'll give it a miss," he said.
