Coronavirus: Man tasered in Big W over toilet paper fight
Toilet paper mayhem has rolled into another day with a man tasered after allegedly assaulting Big W staff in a NSW town.
A man had to be tasered after he allegedly assaulted staff at a Big W store over an argument about toilet rolls and a delivery truck carrying supplies burst into flames as Australians continue to “panic buy” toilet paper driving up demand for the household necessity.
NSW Police confirmed a 50-year-old man had to be tasered at the department store in Tamworth on Thursday after he allegedly assaulted a staff member and another customer over an argument about toilet paper.
The man was arrested by officers from the Oxley district over the alleged assault at 10am.
“Police were told that a 50-year-old man began to argue with a staff member and another customer before he assaulted them at a department store on Bridge Street,” a NSW Police spokeswoman said.
“Officers attended and during the man’s arrest he was tasered.”
Big W confirmed that an “incident” occurred and that none of their staff were injured.
“Police were called in response to the incident by store security. None of our team members were injured,” a spokesman from the Woolworths Group said.
The man was taken to Tamworth police station where he was “assisting police with their inquiries”.
It comes as Woolworths said it would limit purchases of large bags of rice (2 kilos and more) to one to ensure there were enough supplies to go around.
In Brisbane, a semi-trailer reportedly suffered a mechanical accident on Wednesday night on the side of the Gateway Highway in Queensland that caused it to burst into flames.
Oh crap... because I like to be anal with details.. the truck didn’t crash.. looks like a mechanical failure caused it to burst into flames.. sorry for the bum steer. https://t.co/X0T7AQjwn8
— Bianca Stone (@Bianca_Stone) March 4, 2020
Emergency crews attended the scene and promptly extinguished the fire.
A spokesman for Queensland Ambulence said the truck driver was unharmed and no other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Excavators and forklifts attended the scene to move the wreckage, causing all northbound lanes on the Gateway Bridge to close temporarily.
By Thursday morning the wreckage was removed and all lanes reopened.
The incidents come during a period of elevated toilet paper sales as coronavirus fears encourage Australians to stock up on the household necessity.
The high quantity of sales has caused a shortage of toilet paper in many stores, leading to tissue manufacturer Kleenex to reassure the public that they are increasing production to meet demand.
“We are working around the clock at our mill in South Australia to keep supermarket shelves stocked with Kleenex Complete Clean toilet paper,” the company posted on Facebook.
The Australian Medical Association has urged people not to panic-buy with President Dr Tony Bartone saying “There’s no reason to go out and panic buy almost bunker-level materials.”
The high demand for toilet paper has led to resellers attempting to profit off the phenomenon, with six packs of toilet paper being advertised for hundreds of dollars online.
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