A 44-year-old man who was dancing naked through a south-western Sydney street and claiming to be Jesus Christ has been arrested after punching a police officer in the face.

The attack, which took place at 9.45am on Tuesday on Dudley Street, Punchbowl, was filmed by a local shopkeepers when local shopkeepers alerted police to a man without clothes shouting 'Hallelujah'.

When police from Campsie arrive, they pull over near the kerb and approach the man and words are exchanged between them.

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The 44-year-old man is surrounded by police after his arrest for punching an officer in the face at Punchbowl

Mobile phone footage shows a senior officer moving in closer to investigate and the naked man also moves forward with his hand raised toward the policeman's face.

'Hey you, come here, come here,' the man appears to say to police.

As they separate he spits and then lunges at the officer again.

'Get on the ground,' demands the officer with baton poised as he strikes the first blow to the man's legs.

'You're s******* me,' the man protests and is struck on the legs once more.

The officer is first slapped in the face and then punched hard in the jaw, which makes him stumble back.

Witnesses told Daily Mail Australia that other police moved in to help their colleague, with capsicum spray used to successfully subdue and detain the man.

The images from the phone video show the police officer (left) moving forward with baton in hand and striking a blow to the man's leg (right) as he tries to subdue him

The man, who witnesses say was dancing naked down the street, throws a punch at the policeman catching him in the jaw with the blow

The office reels after being hit in the face by the punch. The 44-year-old man was arrested after being subdued with capsicum spray

He was restrained and then taken to Bankstown Hospital for assessment while the policeman was treated for a jaw injury at Canterbury Hospital and later released.

One woman who took cover in the local grocery store said, 'I was so scared, I just ran inside a shop'.

'There was a naked man just walking around and punching police, I wasn't going back outside,' she said.