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Shocking footage captured the moment two police officers grappled with a 13-year-old boy before throwing him to the ground after he was arrested for vaping.
It is understood the boy, who was wearing a side cap and sunglasses, was with his mother and another child outside a shopping center when two NSW Police officers approached them.
He was told to hand over his vaporizers or the officers would have to “use force.”
When the boy refused, the two officers suddenly grabbed him and a fight ensued, in which the police spun the teen around.
His mother and the other boy were heard screaming at the officers and begging them to let him go.
A 13-year-old boy was wrestled by two police officers before being thrown to the ground after being arrested for vaping.
‘He’s 13 years old and you’re using force!’ the other boy shouted.
’13 weak worms! Weak little dogs that can’t even drop a 13 year old!’
The boy’s mother was heard repeatedly yelling “let him go” and accused the officers of trying to break the boy’s arm.
An officer then put his arm around the boy’s neck and threw him to the pavement, while his family screamed in shock.
The footage ended with one of the officers kneeling on the boy and pinning him down as he tried to break free from their grasp.
It is unclear where or when the arrest was filmed, but the footage was shared on Twitter on Monday and many were shocked by the level of force used.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted New South Wales Police for comment.
In New South Wales it is illegal to buy or possess a nicotine vaporizer without a prescription. Children under 18 cannot purchase vaporizers, regardless of whether they contain nicotine or not.
Brian Marlow, director of Legalize Vaping Australia, is pushing for vaporizers to be regulated, following the federal government’s crackdown on January 1.
Two police officers are seen restraining the boy after he was caught vaping.
“We’ve been saying for years that unless something is done, youth vaping would skyrocket and of course it has skyrocketed,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
“Because the only people selling these products are crime syndicates and criminals happy to sell them to children.”
A series of firebomb attacks on tobacco shops has recently rocked Australia, which police believe is due to a conflict between Middle Eastern crime syndicates and bikers who run the illicit tobacco trade.
The situation has gotten so bad that Victoria Police has set up Lunar Taskforce to investigate.
Marlow said the rate of vaping among young people in New Zealand skyrocketed before e-cigarettes were regulated in 2020. Vaporizers now available across the ditch have restrictions on how much nicotine they can have.
“Whereas in Australia it’s still breaking out because the same criminals who are willing to burn down shops and shoot each other are willing to sell to young children,” Mr Marlow said.
“Vaporizers marketed to kids are the disposable ones that everyone in the industry is happy to have banned.”