‘Don’t touch him’: Wild scenes as teen scuffles with police during arrest over vape

A teenager has been filmed scuffling with police outside a Coles as onlookers hurl abuse, in an arrest sparked when the young man refused to hand over a vape.

A teenager has been filmed scuffling with police outside a Coles in rural NSW as onlookers hurl abuse, in an arrest sparked when the young man refused to hand over a vape.

Video of the incident, which occurred at Deniliquin Plaza in the town near the NSW-Victoria border, shows a young man wearing sunglasses, a sideways cap and a singlet being spoken to by police as an older woman and another youth filming also argue with the two officers.

“Don’t touch him, lad,” the person filming says.

A young man is arrested outside Coles. Picture: Reddit

“He’s 13, don’t touch him,” the woman agrees.

The officer warns, “Don’t hinder us. OK, hand over your vapes.”

“No way, bro,” the young man says.

The woman tells the officer “it’s his dad’s, you’re not having it”.

But the cop informs the boy “it’s an offence, you’re not allowed to have it”.

“We don’t want to use force but we will if we have to,” he says.

The incident occurred at Deniliquin Plaza. Picture: Google Maps

The teen filming chimes in, “It’s a f**king vape, bra, seriously. He’s 13 years old and you’re using force.”

The officers then grab the boy to arrest him, sparking an extended scuffle as he tries to fight them off.

The woman screams at the officers to “let go of him” and “stop trying to break his arm” while the young man behind the camera hurls expletives, calling the officer “weak”.

“Can’t even drop a 13-year-old you weak c**t,” he yells.

The officers eventually get the teen on the ground where he requests that they “get off me”, “get the f**k off me, maggot” and “get the f**k off me, c**t”.

He refused to hand over an illegal vape. Picture: Reddit

A NSW Police spokeswoman said officers attached to the Murray River Police District were conducting patrols on Harding Street, Deniliquin at about 8pm last Tuesday “when they were told by staff that a young person was vaping inside a supermarket”.

“Officers located a 13-year-old boy and asked him to hand over a vape,” she said.

“When the boy refused and started to walk away, police stopped the teenager, who then threatened to assault police.

“Police requested the identity of the boy which was refused. He was arrested and taken to Deniliquin Police Station to confirm his identity, before being released without charge and will be dealt with under the Young Offenders Act. The use of force during the arrest is being reviewed.”

Coles has been contacted for comment.

The wild video was uploaded to Reddit on Monday with the title “Good old Deniliquin”, attracting hundreds of comments.

“He’s probably been 13 for four years,” one person wrote.

“The lovely lady looks like she’s been 13 for 40 years,” another said.

“Anyone know how old the guy getting arrested was?” a third asked.

Vaping is illegal for children under 18 in Australia, even if the e-cigarette does not contain nicotine.

E-cigarettes and vape liquid containing nicotine are only available by prescription.