Officer stood down after headbutting 14yo boy who provoked him

A Queensland police officer has been stood down and ethical standards investigators called in after a 14-year-old boy was headbutted during an ugly confrontation outside a country McDonald’s.

A police officer has been stood down and ethical standards investigators brought in after he headbutted a 14-year-old boy in Dalby.

Footage from early Sunday morning shows an off-duty officer headbutting the boy after a confrontation between him and a group of teenagers outside of the Dalby McDonald’s.

One of the teens is believed to have questioned the officer's authority without his badge during the incident.

One of the teens is believed to have questioned the officer’s authority without his badge before being pushed by one of them and encouraged by the 14-year-old to hit him.

“What badge have I got right now ----? Which one of you ----- said that?” yells the officer before being pushed.

“Punch me ---- punch me,” provokes the 14-year old before the officer questions if he wanted to walk away or not.

“You’ve got three seconds to walk away or I headbutt you,” warned the officer as two of the teens continued to provoke him.

The confrontation was caught on film. Picture: 7 News

“You’re a pig, you’re nothing without the badge … push me. It’s self-defence,” the boy can be heard saying before the officer approaches him.

Standing chest-to-chest, the boy raises his arms before the officer headbutts him and walks away, followed by the boy who earlier pushed him.

The confrontation then escalated as the off-duty officer and the teenagers had a number of heated exchanges before officers in uniform dispersed the fight and pulled their colleague aside.

Speaking to 7 News, the boy acknowledged he had provoked the man, but said as a police officer he should be “the bigger person in situations”.

“I was in shock. I thought he had, like, knocked my teeth back,” the Indigenous boy said.

He claimed that his race was a factor in being the only one seriously assaulted.

“I feel as though he has targeted me because of my colour, because of the colour of my skin,” he said.

The incident occurred at McDonald’s at Dalby on the Darling Downs. Picture: 7 News

The confrontation then escalated as the off-duty officer and the teenagers had a number of heated exchanges. Picture: 7 News

In a statement Queensland Police Service said the Ethical Standards Command was investigating, with the officer stood down pending the result of investigations.

“The officer is under investigation by ESC and will also be subject to oversight by the Crime and Corruption Commission. No further comment is available.”

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said she had not seen what led up to the incident, but did not support the officer’s actions.

“On what I have seen, those actions are completely inappropriate,” she told 7 News.

The investigation is being handled under the new QPS disciplinary process while the review into 300 other disciplinary cases within the QPS is under way.

Originally published as Officer stood down after headbutting 14yo boy who provoked him