Man arrested for crashing car into Russian consulate in Sydney
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Police officers oversee the loading of a car with a smashed window onto a flatbed truck after it crashed into the Russian consulate in Sydney.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SYDNEY - A man who rammed his car into the gates of the Russian consulate in Sydney on Sept 1 was arrested and charged with offences including property destruction and possession of a knife, Australian police said.
Eyewitness video of the incident showed police shouting: “Get out of the car now!” to a man in a car inside the grounds of the consulate in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra.
New South Wales Police said officers had responded to a call for assistance from the consulate and had tried to talk to a man in a car in front of the building, who then accelerated and rammed into the front gate.
The police diplomatic protection unit responded to a request for assistance from the Russian consulate after an unauthorised vehicle was parked in the driveway, an Australian Federal Police spokesperson said in a statement.
The consulate had first reported an unauthorised vehicle in front of the building. Police said they were told the driver had jumped the fence and entered the grounds before returning to his vehicle.
A neighbour who witnessed the incident said he saw the car force its way through the gates after the driver was instructed to step out of the vehicle.
“The policemen continued to ask him to get out of the car. He didn’t get out of the car. They drew their firearms,” he said, declining to give his name.
“It was quite dramatic on a Monday morning.”
A white SUV with a smashed window could later be seen abandoned next to a Russian flagpole on the consulate grounds. A flatbed truck came and took it away.
The 39-year-old man was arrested and later charged. The charges include using an offensive weapon to prevent police investigation, destroying property, resisting police, and custody of a knife in a public place, the police said in a statement.
Two police officers sustained minor injuries. The man was refused bail.
Officers attempted to speak to the driver before he drove his vehicle into the gates of the property, police said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
A person who answered a phone at the consulate declined to comment on the incident.
Mr Tim Enright, a construction worker who was on the roof of a nearby building at the time, said he saw a police officer taking photos of a car parked near the consulate around 8am (6am Singapore time).
He said he then heard sirens and a police helicopter arrived at the scene.
The consulate was briefly closed before reopening, said people behind a police cordon who had visa appointments.
“There is no current or impending threat to the consulate or the local community,” the Australian Federal Police statement added. REUTERS
