Wild moment cyclist tackled at station in Perth

Perth transit guards are under fire, as footage of a collarbone-breaking headlock emerges and six incidents are escalated to the public service’s internal integrity unit.

On Tuesday, a host of WA state government department annual reports were tabled in parliament, including reports from the Corruption and Crime Commission.

Included in the documents was a review of an arrest made by a transit guard in Perth’s southern suburbs in February 2023 that did not lead to any charges.

The arrest fractured the collarbone of a man who was known to transit guards as a serial fare dodger and who on the night in question did not buy a ticket.

The incident happened about midnight on February 16 at Aubin Grove Station in Perth’s southern suburbs.

Identified in the report as Mr S, the traveller was trying to catch the last train home when transit guards stopped him and asked to see his ticket.

He said he tagged on with his SmartRider, the officers said they would need to “go upstairs and check”.

Mr S said he did not have time because it was the last train.

Footage shows Mr S talking to three transit guards on the platform, while one more guard is about 100m away talking to the driver.

A guard, identified in the report as Officer B, grabs the traveller in a headlock and takes him to the ground.

Officer B claimed Mr S said “I’ll smash your f***ing head in c**t”.

The footage did not depict Mr S displaying a physically aggressive demeanour, the commission found.

It said Officer B had the support of the other officers, and it appeared more force was used than necessary to arrest Mr S.

The man took himself to hospital the next day. His collarbone had been fractured.

Officer B’s actions were reported to his supervisor and the professional standards and integrity manager, neither of whom documented any analysis of the incident, the Corruption and Crime Commission found.

“No conclusions were made by either supervisor as to whether the force used was lawful and in accordance with (Public Transport Authority of Western Australia) policy. No consideration seems to have been given to the lawfulness of the arrest,” the report said.

“Further, after reviewing the action report and CCTV, the supervisor and Officer B concluded the CCTV footage ‘doesn’t look good’. Implicit in this comment is that Officer B lacked reasonable grounds to arrest Mr S in the manner he did.”

The public transport authority also did not get statements from the other transit guards. The public transport authority was not aware of Mr S’s fractured collar bone, and as such did not investigate.

Whenever a transit guard uses force, the officer has to fill out an action report. From January 1, 2023, to December 11, 2023, 170 use of force incidents were reported by Perth transit guards. Six of those went further up the chain to the transport body’s integrity and investigations branch. None of those six incidents were referred on to a higher level.

After being pulled to the ground on the Aubin Grove station, Mr S was released without charge and not summonsed to appear for any offence.

Mr S was released without charge and not summonsed for any offence.

The Corruption and Crime Commission finds the actions of the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia were inadequate.

It is unclear how Officer B’s actions align with the public transport body’s policies. Statements from the other officers would have been essential because Officer B said he acted because of the perceived threat from Mr S.

“Mr S was not offering any physical resistance and was slowly complying … the force used by Officer B was more than necessary … it (is not) clear why Mr S was arrested then, presumably, unarrested.”

The transport authority says it was already enacting some reforms to its use of force reporting, but the Corruption and Crime Commission will check on progress in one year’s time.

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