‘Ruthlessly tackled’: Uni student pinned down by officers on Melbourne bus after reportedly failing to tap travel card

Dramatic scenes have erupted on a bus, where a uni student was filmed being “tackled” and pinned to the floor by a number of officers.

A student was “ruthlessly tackled” by transport officers on a bus after he reportedly failed to tap on his travel card, with eyewitnesses saying he was pinned down and struggled to breathe.

The incident erupted on the 601 bus in Melbourne travelling between Huntingdale station and Monash University in Clayton, 20km south-east of the city’s CBD, on Wednesday.

In one video shared to Reddit, a group of ‘authorised officers’ are seen piling on the young man as he is pinned to the floor of the bus.

Concerned passengers watch on in shock as the man struggles on the floor, with one passenger pulling out her phone to film the incident.

The incident erupted on a bus travelling to a Melbourne university on Wednesday. Picture: Reddit

Officers were seen pinning the man to the floor of the bus. Picture: Reddit.

In another intense video of the exchange shared online, one officer is heard screaming at the man to stop resisting as other officers hold him down.

“Stop it!” the officer loudly shouts at the man.

“I’m not resisting,” he replied.

“You are resisting, stop,” the officer yells back, before another officer appears to tell the man: “Mate you assaulted me”.

One witness on social media claimed the young man “struggled to breathe” while he was “mercilessly” pinned to the floor of the bus.

“Today, on the 601 Monash shuttle bus, a poor young man — part of an ethnic group and likely just a student trying to get to class — was ruthlessly tackled by five Myki officers. His crime? Trying to escape a fine for not tapping on,” they wrote.

“When he attempted to get away, the officers, slammed him to the ground. Pinned mercilessly, the student struggled to breathe, but the officers pressed him down even harder.”

Myki cards are used to travel on trains, tram and buses in Melbourne.

The witness made reference to a separate video shared online – where the man can be heard asking officers to let him lift his head and “face up” as he lay on the floor.

“In the second video, you can see him desperately begging them to lift his face, gasping for air. This brutal scene dragged on for some time.”

One officer shouted at the man to stop resisting. Picture: Facebook

He could be heard asking officers to let him ‘face up’. Picture: Facebook

The witness said the officers instructed the bus driver to not continue the route, causing other university students to be late to class – “all because of the officers’ need to punish a single student without a shred of compassion”.

Victoria Police told news.com.au it responded to reports a transport officer had been assaulted at Huntingdale Train Station on Wednesday.

“On arrival police found authorised officers holding a man,” police said.

A 24-year-old man from Ivanhoe East was arrested and interviewed by police.

The 24-year-old was later released and is expected to be charged on summons. There were no reported injuries.

Victoria Police made no mention of the claim the man had failed to tap on his Myki card.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Police urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Originally published as ‘Ruthlessly tackled’: Uni student pinned down by officers on Melbourne bus after reportedly failing to tap travel card