Shocked bus passengers captured the moment a group of ticket inspectors pinned a young man to the ground after he allegedly assaulted an officer.
Public Transport Victoria (PTV) officers restrained the man, 24, on the 601 bus from Huntingdale to Monash in the city’s south-east on Wednesday.
Police were called to Huntingdale train station, where they found five officers still grabbing the man, from Ivanhoe East, in the city’s north-east.
Initial reports indicate he allegedly assaulted an authorized officer.
The man has been released but is expected to be accused by summons. An investigation into the incident is underway.
Social media users, lacking context for the man’s alleged assault, assumed he had simply forgotten to touch his MyKi card at the start of the trip.
“Poor guy didn’t tap on MyKi,” one user wrote in the caption of a video showing the man pinned to the floor of a bus.
Others who saw the video criticized the officer’s “excessive” use of force, but also admitted they didn’t have the full context.
Shocked passengers on a Melbourne bus captured the moment ticket inspectors pinned a man to the ground after he allegedly assaulted a worker (pictured).
Videos show five PTV officers restraining a 24-year-old man on the 601 bus from Huntingdale to Monash in the city’s south-east on Wednesday (pictured).
“Look, we clearly don’t have the full context here… But why the fuck are ticket inspectors dressed like they’re part of some tactical unit?” one asked.
‘“These muppets have no training on how to safely restrain and arrest people.”
‘Five against one? Is it the student (Mike) Tyson,’ another questioned.
“Anyone defending this shit needs to get their head checked,” a third added.
The Transport (Enforcement and Miscellaneous) Act allows authorized officers to arrest a person if the officer believes, on reasonable grounds, that the arrest is necessary.
These reasons may include the preservation of public order, to prevent the continuation or repetition of a crime and for the safety of the public or person.
Section 462A of the Crimes Act 1958 allows authorized officers to use proportionate force to arrest any person who commits an offence.
Authorized officers (pictured in Melbourne) can make arrests to keep the peace, but must use the least force possible, according to their regulations.
However, under the law’s arrest procedures, officers must recognize “the seriousness of depriving a person of liberty and whether it is necessary to arrest a person by an authorized officer.”
Officers must ensure that all other avenues to address the situation have been exhausted and that any arrests are made “discreetly and discreetly.”
What is considered a reasonable arrest depends on the individual circumstances of each case and the officer must justify that any force used was necessary and not excessive.
Victoria Police have urged anyone with information or images of what happened to contact Crime Stoppers immediately.
