A heated encounter between a homeless man and two members of San Diego transit security was caught on camera, and is currently making the rounds online. While the MTS security officers were attempting to apprehend their suspect, it’s currently unclear what the specific reason was behind his detainment. However, from the footage, it’s clear that their target was aggressive, as you can see the man attempting to bite the officers, resulting in them striking the assailant in the side of the head multiple times.
The brief 52-second clip opens at the Little Italy Trolley Station, and sees two transport officers attempting to hold down and apprehend the “biting” man in question. In the background, you can audibly hear the tram bell ringing loudly. While the security personnel are grappling with their target, you can see the man on the ground attempting to bite the hand of one of the officers, which leads to both of the patrolman hitting the suspect on the ground in a bid to protect themselves.
The security officers continue to struggle to detain the homeless man, and he ends up breaking free of their grasp and running away. As he gets up to book it, however, the other officer sprays OC spray directly at the back of his head, though his escape is short-lived. Not only does he fall to the ground, but he manages to get up and cross the tramlines to only end up running straight into a closed door. At this point, the footage comes to a close as the transit security officers hold him down.
Unsurprisingly, social media users took to the comments section to weigh in with their thoughts. The bulk of comments largely ridiculed the messy detainment, with one Redditor writing, “Needs Benny Hill music over it.” and another chiming in with, “A comically inept use of force. I love when one officer shoves away the other officer who is currently grappling the suspect so first officer can jump in and…grapple the suspect.”
Others sympathised with the challenges that transit security face on a day to day basis, with one expressing: “I actually have some empathy for transit security it seems like a shit job and they obviously don’t have any power unless something dangerous happens… they just have to stand around at old town station while people do crack by them and verbally assault people“. Another commenter reflected on the part where the homeless person tried to bite the security officer, penning, “It looks like he was biting down on the officer and the hitting was to make him release the bite. The initial strikes were open handed slaps and escalated due to not releasing. After he got up and ran away the next takedown had zero strikes.”
While information on the incident is scarce online right now, we’re hopeful that the assailant was promptly detained, and no-one was hurt during the commotion.
