This is the moment a swaggering robbery suspect was brutally taken down with a devastating jiu-jitsu throw after punching a police car.
State Police officers in Brescia, northern Italy, had ordered the suspect to halt as he walked away from them, believing him to be armed, according to local media.
The young man was suspected of having just committed a robbery and threatening an alleged victim with a knife.
He was seen in the video, circulating online since Saturday, walking down the street when a police car pulled up beside him.
When the passenger door opened, he reacted by punching the window, prompting the officer inside to get out and approach the suspect.
Sweeping his legs out from underneath him with a sharp kick, the officer forced the suspect to the ground before making the arrest.
Surveillance footage was shared widely online this week, some time after the arrest was made last March.
Officers later confirmed the events, though said they found no weapon on him after detaining him.
The clip has proven divisive, Italian commentators weighing whether the officer should be commended for his decisive action, or whether it was excessive.
The moment the officer swept the suspect’s legs out from underneath him
Video showed the suspect swaggering down the street before the police pulled up
The suspect punches the police car before being thrown to the ground
The Brescia Police Headquarters said that it has started an investigation into the conduct.
They are also trying to establish how the CCTV footage emerged online, fearing it could have been recorded directly from the police operations room, Brescia Today reports.
The original video appears to have been filmed on another screen.
The Instagram page Welcome to Favelas was among those to share the clip before it went viral this weekend.
The suspect is seen in the clip falling dramatically to the floor after the officer took his legs from underneath him with an impressive blow to the ankles.
As the stunned suspect lands heavily on the cobblestones, the officer climbs over his back and pins him with a knee to his shoulder and neck.
Meanwhile, the second officer – on the driver’s side of the car – runs over to help as the suspect is handcuffed.
A police spokesperson said: ‘He was considered dangerous because the report said he was an armed man.’
One sudden kick to the back of the legs and the man instantly fell to the ground
The suspect is quickly dropped to the floor as his colleague rushes in
The pair made the arrest, suspecting the man of having tried to rob someone with a knife
Although the footage was recorded in March it exploded over social media channels on 19th April and one post on X was viewed more than half a million times.
One user named as ‘Erik_Harmre’ said: ‘That was a very impressive takedown. I think he even caught the perp midair, so he didn’t slam his head.’
And another called ‘fictitiousfruit’ added: ‘He flipped that dude like he was tossing pizza dough. Mama Mia!’
A Staffordshire woman was separately this year given a Police Chief Superintendent Commendation Award by West Mercia Police after she stepped in with jiu jitsu moves to take on an armed robber in a store in Telford, Shropshire.
Mairi Kerin, 42, had been buying chocolates when a masked man came in and began threatening staff at LOCO Convenience Store in March 2023.
Without missing a beat, Mairi – a medal-winning Wadokai karate enthusiast, who is also proficient in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and boxing – calmly looked at the man before leaping into action.
She grabbed the would-be thief’s arm and delivered a couple of firm kicks to his shins, leaving him scarpering out of the store.
Dramatic CCTV captured martial arts expert Mairi chasing the criminal from the shop before he ran away down the street.
Mairi Kerin was given a Police Chief Superintendent Commendation Award by West Mercia Police following her brave heroics on March 3, 2023
Mairi insists she was not brave but merely acting on her martial arts and self-defence training
She told how she did not think twice about jumping to the shopkeeper’s defence after hearing the man tell him: ‘I’m going to take your money.’
‘I had a bit of a bad back so I was quite slow and as I got out of the car I noticed this person all covered up and thought “You look like you’re going to rob a shop”‘, she said.
‘I remember telling myself you can’t think that about people, can’t pigeonhole people like that. I thought that maybe he’s just got a bike somewhere, he’s been out riding or whatever.’
But when he blocked the door and threatened to rob the shopkeeper, she was forced into action, grabbing his arm and kicking him in the shins.
