New video shows man’s wild tirade on light rail tracks in Sydney
New footage obtained by news.com.au has revealed what led to a man’s stunning outburst on tram tracks in Sydney’s CBD before his dramatic arrest by police.
Confronting new footage has revealed what happened moments before a man was tackled by police and charged with assaulting an officer in the heart of Sydney’s CBD.
Viral footage first shared to social media showed the long-haired man facing off with a tram on the light rail track near Chinatown on Saturday night.
He was heard shouting and appearing to raise his middle finger at the driver of the Circular Quay-bound tram which was forced to come to a sudden stop.
Police arrived seconds later, with one male constable seen trying to stop the man’s wild antics before he was arrested in dramatic fashion in front of jeering bystanders.
News.com.au has now obtained new footage filmed by a passerby showing the 46-year-old man being yanked to the ground by his hair while another man drenched his pants with water.
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Anthony E, who had enjoyed a dinner in Chinatown with his wife and was searching for a late-night dessert, heard the commotion and started recording on his phone.
“We just noticed him yelling in the middle of the road near Hoyts,” he told news.com.au.
“And then (he) was blocking the trams, so he was crisscrossing between both tram lines. Both the trams had stopped and he was causing quite a scene.”
The irate man continued walking down George St in the footage, with one of the packed trams waiting for him to move out of the way.
It was at this point a man dressed in a white T-shirt stepped in and tried to stop the man from entering the tracks again.
“You’re f**king kidding me,” the long-haired man shouted.
He then threw his arms in the air and walked toward the tram driver’s carriage before slamming his hands on the carriage windscreen.
The bystander continued to try to wrestle the man off the track.
“You f**king dog,” the 46-year-old man yelled in response.
Other passers-by tried to calm him down, but he continued his outburst.
He was eventually dragged to the ground by his hair by the bystander who first intervened as a taunter poured an entire bottle of water on the crotch region of his jeans.
Anthony felt bad and stepped in, telling the man to let him go.
“I stopped recording and actually told the guy to get off him because he was sort of roughing him up a bit too much and I felt bad,” he told news.com.au.
He broke up the altercation, but the 46-year-old continued screaming down George St when chaos unfolded again outside the 3 Wise Monkeys bar and nightclub.
“We followed him all the way and that’s where the police came and that’s why I started recording the second video,” Anthony said.
Anthony said the moment he started filming near Hoyts to the arrest of the man outside 3 Wise Monkeys was about 15 minutes.
A police spokeswoman said they received calls about a man “behaving aggressively”.
It will be alleged the 46-year-old man damaged a police car and assaulted a male constable who was later treated by paramedics for minor injuries.
The man was charged with go onto or into and remain on or in running lines etc, behave in offensive manner in/near public place/school, assault police officer in execution of duty cause actual bodily harm, and hinder or resist police officer in the execution of duty.
He was refused bail when he appeared at Parramatta Local Court on Sunday.
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