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An altercation broke out between a half-naked man and police officers at a coffeeshop at Blk 802 French Road recently.

In the statement to media, the police said that the 41-year-old was arrested for his alleged involvement in voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, public nuisance, theft in dwelling and suspected drug-related offences.

Fighting stance

Videos sent to Mothership show several police officers surrounding the half-naked man at a coffee shop.

The man can be heard hurling Hokkien vulgarities, despite a male police officer speaking to him in Mandarin and telling him to calm down.

He swipes at the male officer, who backs away slightly.

Abruptly, he lets loose a guttural yell, and drops into a fighting stance.

He then proceeds to aim a flurry of punches and kicks at the male officer and another female officer nearby.

Both attempt to ward off his blows, and the male officer takes the chance to unsheathe his baton.

Tased

In a second video taken further away from the action, it appears that a crowd of onlookers have gathered to spectate.

The man hikes his pants up, saunters over to a male officer, and once again segues back into the fight.

He makes a grab for the officer's throat, but this time, the officer goes on the offensive with his baton.

The man continues bellowing, and there's the sound of a taser being fired, but it appears that it might not have hit the man, for he turns around once again to yell to the crowd.

The second time the taser is fired, it hits its mark and the man topples over.

The police officer can be heard shouting for the man to stay on the ground and not move.

The crowd gradually disperses.

Man turned aggressive towards paramedics and members of the public

In response to Mothership's queries, the Singapore police said they were alerted to a case of a man who turned hostile towards paramedics and members of the public, who were attending to him after he sustained a fall, at the said coffeeshop.

After the police arrived, the man purportedly continued to behave aggressively towards the officers and members of the public around him.

Despite repeated reminders to the man to comply with officers’ instructions, the man allegedly challenged the officers to a fight and charged towards officers, the statement wrote.

One of the officers then drew his baton in his attempt to subdue the man. The man was eventually subdued and arrested by the officers after taser stun devices were deployed.

Preliminary investigation revealed that prior to Police’s arrival, the man was violent and had allegedly thrown chairs in the direction of other patrons at the coffeeshop.

He was believed to be involved in a case of theft at a pharmacy located near the coffeeshop.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Use of force has several considerations

The police also highlighted that in their use of force, they take into consideration of the proportionality of the force to be applied vis-a-vis the perceived threat, the safety of the general public and our officers, as well as the safety of the target on which force is to be applied.

The police have zero tolerance towards acts of violence against public officers performing their duty and offenders will be dealt with firmly.

If found guilty, offenders of voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from discharging his duty carries a jail term of up to seven years, and a fine or caning.

The offence of public nuisance carries a fine of up to S$2,000 and the offence of theft in dwelling carries a jail term of up to seven years and a fine.

Top photo from Mothership reader