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A police officer is under investigation over a social media video which appears to show him hitting a disabled man sitting in a wheelchair.
Witnesses were shocked to see the PC ‘pushing and punching’ the one-legged man during the incident on St Peter’s Road in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, early on Monday evening.
Norfolk Police said the altercation came after the officer was verbally abused, threatened with a bottle, and spat at.
They confirmed ‘a thorough investigation of the circumstances’ is underway, ‘including a review of the officer’s body worn video’.
The matter has been referred to the force’s Professional Standards Department along with the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Onlookers said the man in the wheelchair had been in the middle of the road, holding a bottle of alcohol, when the police officer arrived on the scene.
The video taken by a passer-by showed the officer shoving the man back into the doorway of a Londis store as he cowered in his chair.
Diari ‘Jay’ Salih, 40, who runs a barbershop opposite where the altercation happened, said witnesses were shocked by the incident.
He said: ‘Nobody’s happy about this. I can’t get the image out of my head. People around here now do not feel safe with the police.’
A screenshot from the social media video showing a Norfolk police officer allegedly hitting and punching a one-legged disabled man in a wheelchair (Picture: East Anglia News Service)
Carla Carvalho, 43, who works at a nearby business, described how the man in the wheelchair had been ‘in the middle of the road, dancing and singing and all happy when the policeman comes and stops him’.
She told the BBC: ‘He was trying to get up with a bottle of beer in hand and I think the police guy thinks he was going to throw the bottle at him.
‘Then you see in the video the police guy punches him. Whatever they say to each other I don’t know, but he doesn’t need to do this. He should be waiting for other ones [police officers].’
Another woman who works nearby said: ‘The man in the wheelchair is around here a lot of the time. Everybody knows him here.
‘He had a bottle of alcohol in his hands. He was in the middle of the street. The police officer came from around the corner and pushed him to the corner.
‘The man in the wheelchair did a movement like he was going to get up. Then the police officer started pushing and punching.’
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A Norfolk Police statement said: ‘Police are investigating the conduct of an officer in Great Yarmouth following the circulation of a video showing the arrest of a man in a wheelchair yesterday evening.
‘The incident happened at 5.16pm in St Peter’s Road in Great Yarmouth, when an officer on patrol came across a man being verbally abusive in the street.
‘During the incident, the man threatened him with a bottle and subsequently spat at the officer.’
Local Policing Commander Chief Inspector Matt Dyson added: ‘We are aware of a video circulating on social media.
‘The matter has been referred to the Professional Standards Department and we are carrying out a thorough investigation of the circumstances including a review of the officer’s body worn video.
‘We will also be referring the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
‘We recognise the public concern around the level of force used in this incident and this will form part of our investigation.’
Following the incident, a man in his 30s was arrested for a Section 5 public order offence of causing harassment, alarm, or distress and assaulting an emergency worker.
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