Footage shows the terrifying moment a man spontaneously attacked two police officers as they walked through a busy late-night party strip.
The officer was attacked in Adelaide’s busy Hindley Street about 12.45am on Sunday by a man who threw a mobile phone at him before reaching for the officer’s service pistol.
Camera images from the street show how the man then approaches the officer and viciously waves his fist at the officer.
After a brief struggle, the two officers appeared to have the man under control, between them.
But with bystanders just feet away, the man grabbed the officer’s holster and tried to pull out his gun, which could have ended in disaster.
South Australian police said one of the officers was injured during the altercation and “suffered a cut to his head.”
“Capsicum spray was used to arrest the man,” an SA Police spokesperson said.
Two officers tried to control a man who threw his phone at one of them and followed up with punches
The officers tried to take the man to the ground, but the man tried to snatch a police weapon from the holster.
The police union said the two officers involved in the attack were not expected to work shifts on Sunday evening, but had offered their help amid a dire shortage of available officers.
Wade Burns from the SA Police Association told the story 7News the two officers stopped what could have been a tragedy.
“It is only thanks to the excellent work of our police members that they were able to prevent what could have been an absolute disaster,” Mr Burns said.
“They worked in the CBD to complement the understaffed policing model that exists in Hindley Street and the wider CBD area.”
A 25-year-old Blakeview man was arrested and charged with assaulting a prescribed emergency worker and throwing a missile.
The man was bailed to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on December 20.