A woman suffered cuts and bruises after she was grabbed by the face and dragged along the ground.
Witnesses saw the victim fall to the ground after having her hand bent backwards by a man she was with in Sherwood Rise, Forest Fields.
Police were called after the woman was dragged a short distance down the street by the man. She suffered a swollen eye and cuts and bruising on her face.
A second woman who went to intervene was also assaulted by the same man.
Officers quickly attended but the man had already fled the scene.
Enquiries led to a 30-year-old suspect being traced to a nearby property where he was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault a short time after the incident, which happened shortly after 10pm on Saturday (18 December).
The man has since been released on conditional bail while enquiries continue.
Detective Chief Inspector Natasha Todd, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a very nasty incident and officers did well to arrest a suspect within a short period of him fleeing the scene.
“We have spoken to a number of witnesses and are making good progress in the investigation. However I would urge anyone who saw what happened but has not yet spoken to police to contact us on 101 quoting incident 719 of 18 December.
“Violent acts will not be tolerated on our streets and Nottinghamshire Police will always robustly investigate any reports we receive.”
