He then lets go upon realising and looks sheepishly towards the camera

times to ensure that it is not a deadly weapon

One officer moves hand towards pocket and appears to grab man's penis

This is the excruciating moment a man had his penis grabbed by a police officer who mistook it for a deadly weapon during a body search.

The embarrassing footage, captured in North America, shows the man being restrained with his hands behind his back.

The topless man stands in the reception of an office as police carry out their job and pat him down to check for weapons.

Cop a feel: The police officers carry out their job and pat the man down while checking for deadly weapons

Whoops: One officer moves his hand around to the man's left pocket and appears to grab hold of his penis

One officer then moves his gloved hand around to the man's left pocket and appears to grab hold of his penis - mistaking it for something else.

Unwilling to take any chances, the policeman grasps it several times to ensure it is indeed connected to the man they have restrained.

Meanwhile the man looks down at the officer's hand to see what he is doing - all the while he remains completely silent.

After a few excruciatingly long seconds the policeman appears to realise his mistake and can be seen removing his hand in a rather sheepish manner.

Better to be safe than sorry: The policeman grasps it several times to ensure it is indeed connected to the man

Nothing to see here: The officer appears to realise his mistake and removes his hand in a sheepish manner

He then looks up at the camera before backing away from the man and looking over his shoulder.

The video first appeared on Imgur and rather unsurprisingly sparked a Reddit comments feed.

One viewer wrote: 'He seems impressed and ashamed at the same time,' while another said: 'This is somehow better because they both acknowledge it happened.'

The man was apprehended by the police after allegedly terrorising staff at the office.