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Police, in the midst of an alleged bus hijacking, say the man who ended up in custody tried to steal a gun from police, in a dramatic vision of the arrest.
The incident unfolded in Adelaide at around 6am on Saturday.
A 28-year-old Adelaide man was electrocuted and sprayed with capsicum twice before police could remove him from the bus driver's seat.
A male police officer ended up with an injury to his eye – which was irritated by the pepper spray – and a female officer suffered an injury to her jaw after allegedly being punched.
Footage filmed by a member of the public suggests the alleged attacker tried to take a police weapon from the waistband of one of the officers.
“I didn’t let him grab his gunmate that I was holding,” the injured officer said in the video as other officers tried to assess her injuries.
“I grabbed it, I grabbed it, I didn't let it go,” she said.
“I saw it,” said a police officer.
Police, in the midst of an alleged bus hijacking, say the man who ended up in custody tried to steal a gun from the police, in a dramatic view of the arrest
All the while the policewoman's face is red and contorted in pain. She asks a paramedic for some kind of spray.
“I just don’t know if my jaw is broken,” she said.
“He punched me twice in the chin. Very difficult,” she claimed.
Police were called to a Franklin Street bus station around 5:45 a.m. Saturday for reports that an intoxicated man was trying to hijack a private bus with 26 elderly passengers on board.
When police arrived, they claimed the man was agitated in the bus driver's seat.
Police approached the man and asked him to get off the bus, but he refused, a police spokesman said.
Officers attempted to remove him from the driver's seat when two officers were allegedly punched in the head several times, the spokesperson said.
“Police used capsicum spray in an attempt to subdue the man, but were unsuccessful and he continued trying to drive the bus,” the spokesperson said.
'Officers arrived on scene to assist and a third member was kicked in the head and suffered a cut lip.'
The spokesperson said a police dog was called to help remove the man from the bus, but he was also attacked and his handler was punched in the face.
A 28-year-old Adelaide man was taken to hospital for medical attention before police charged him
Two officers were also taken to hospital after one member suffered an eye injury and a second officer suffered a head injury.
“Police shocked the man but were unable to free him from the driver’s seat,” the spokesperson said.
'Capsicum spray was used a second time on the man, and he was removed from the bus and arrested.'
The images show that the man ended up being pinned to the ground by five police officers. Somehow his clothes fell off during the arrest and he screamed as the police put on the handcuffs.
A 28-year-old Adelaide man was taken to hospital for medical attention before police charged him.
A police spokesman said he was charged with four counts of assault on an emergency worker and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
Two officers were also taken to hospital after one member suffered an eye injury and a second officer suffered a head injury.
A bus passenger needed treatment for the effects of capsicum spray.
