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Bad Santa is pepper-sprayed and thrown to the ground by police officers in Bunnings in a bizarre incident days after Christmas, after ‘threatening’ staff inside.
- Incident in Frankston Bunnings on Thursday involving fake Santa Claus
- Reports of a man in his 60s threatening staff and other shoppers in the store
- He refused to leave, then resisted police, who then pepper-sprayed the man.
A man dressed as Santa Claus had to be pepper-sprayed and taken to hospital after a freak incident in Bunnings.
Police responded to reports of a man behaving erratically inside the hardware store in the southern Melbourne suburb of Frankston at 1pm on Thursday.
The staff asked him to leave, but he refused and when the officers intervened, he became aggressive.
A man dressed as Santa Claus was pepper sprayed and taken to hospital after an incident in Bunnings.
The fake Santa assaulted police, who were forced to pepper-spray him and wrestle him to the ground outside the store.
“Officers were forced to escort the man off the premises, but he resisted and assaulted them,” Victoria Police said in a statement.
The man collapsed and was treated by paramedics, who decided to transfer him to the hospital.
“The man fell unconscious and was taken to hospital for treatment,” police said.
Victoria Ambulance confirmed that a man was taken to Frankston Hospital at 1:40pm on Thursday after a medical emergency.
Bunnings said in a statement that his Frankston staff had handled the situation in a “professional manner.”
Bunnings’ staff asked the fake Santa to leave, but he refused and when officers intervened, he became aggressive.
After the fake Santa was pepper-sprayed, he was treated by paramedics and taken to hospital.
The store also confirmed that the fake Santa was not one of its employees.
On social media, shoppers posted what they saw during the incident.
A woman said the man, ‘in his 60s’, had been ‘threatening’ staff and other shoppers.
A customer posted a photo of the man being treated by paramedics outside the store with the caption “Santa arrested in Frankston Bunnings today.”