A senior Sunshine Coast policeman stopped a press conference to spear tackle an accused harasser that was being chased nearby.
A 9 News cameraman caught all the action on tape as detective senior sergeant Daren Edwards heard a commotion going on behind him, turned to see a man being chased, and decided to gloriously stop the man with an expert tackle.
The man he tackled was being chased by the father of a 19-year-old girl for allegedly making inappropriate comments towards her.
The father can be heard yelling: “You better get running! Run, run, run!” as the pair ran right behind the police and media.
He also shouted: “He’s been inappropriate to my daughter,” which is when Edwards made a beeline and heroically tackle the suspect the ground.
The suspect said as local news crews looked on: “I did nothing… I said nothing to her! I just came out from the court!”
A police press conference was cut short on the Sunshine Coast when a senior detective tackled a man who allegedly made inappropriate comments to a teenage girl and was running away from her angry father @9NewsQueensland @9NewsSunCoast #9News pic.twitter.com/3Wx1vJ7juv
— Jordan Koster (@JordanKoster9) June 19, 2019
The 19-year-old woman told 9 News the alleged harasser had tried to approach her twice, saying: “He just asked me if I was single, saying that I was beautiful and he was going to buy me stuff. I just told him to go away and I wasn’t interested.”
Edwards later told the media: “I dropped the shoulder and tackled him.”
Sunshine Coast police charged the 39-year-old man with unlawful stalking.