Gold Coast officers stop man because they say he looked as though he could be in a motorcycle gang, and aim Taser at him when he reaches into his car

Tourist stopped by Queensland police 'because of his tattoos' has Taser aimed at him



A tourist has posted a video online showing a Gold Coast police officer aiming a Taser at her boyfriend.

The clip was posted on Facebook on Monday and appears to show the moment a female officer prepares to discharge her Taser at a heavily tattooed man.

“We have legislation down here, if we identify a potential member of a criminal motorcycle gang we have the power to stop, detain and search you,” the officer says in the footage.

When the man asks if his neck tattoos were the sole reason for being pulled over, she replies: “Yep, absolutely.”

Matters escalate when the man, from Victoria, then refuses to hand over his mobile phone and the officer aims her Taser at him.

According to the post on his partner Hayley Van Hostauyen’s Facebook page, the pair had just touched down in Queensland for a holiday.

“I have no club gear on at all they simply seen me and my partner Hayley at a red light, noticed a 13 tattooed on my neck and pulled us over,” the man wrote.

“Pfft what a joke welcome to QLD.”

He claims in the post that the officers later deleted the footage but he was able to recover it.

“This is fkd up what a good start to our holiday str8 from airport,” he said.

The clip had been watched 1.3m times by Tuesday morning.

The Courier-Mail quoted police inspector Shane Holmes on the incident. “He wasn’t just a random Victorian tourist. He and his girlfriend were intercepted by two slightly built female officers who know from experience that bikies carry weapons.

“When this gentleman unexpectedly reached into the car, the officers immediately feared for their safety and drew the Taser as a precaution.

“The incident has been investigated and the officers were deemed to have acted lawfully and reasonably.”

Ian Leavers, president of the Queensland Police Union also said the officer had acted reasonably.

“Police correctly identified the man as a potential member of a criminal motorcycle gang.

“I fully support them showing extreme caution when they spoke with him as they would not have been certain of whether he was armed.”