Melbourne man Nik Dimopoulos is in hospital and may lose the use of his left arm, following a violent arrest that police have now admitted was a case of mistaken identity.
A residential apartment in the inner-city suburb of Fitzroy, adjoining the popular LGBT bookstore-cafe Hares & Hyenas, was raided by police at 2am today.
Hares & Hyenas owners Rowland Thomson and Crusader Hillis say that police broke in via the garage, suspecting that an “armed member of a Lebanese gang” was inside the residence.
In a statement posted to Facebook, the owners said that the police did not identify themselves at any point, but “just stormed into a dark room shining torches.”
Nik Dimopoulos, who was in the apartment at the time, believed it to be an “anti-gay home invasion”, and he allegedly rushed out to the street, where he was forcibly detained.
“At no time did the police when they were chasing him say ‘stop, Police’ as you would expect. He had his hands tethered behind his back way beyond what can be endured, and then they had no implement to remove them even after an ambulance had been called. He could only see boots and rifles and was assuming he was going to be bashed or shot. He said he thought he was about to be killed.”
While this was going on, the owners of the bookstore were calling the police, unaware that a police raid was already in progress at their residence. The statement continues:
“Nik is now in hospital with the likelihood of losing the use of his left arm, which is broken in several places from the shoulder down. The surgeon described the injury as 12 on a scale of 1 to 10. Crusader and Rowland are both shaken but physically fine. Nik also has a huge contusion on his head from his head being thrown onto the pavement.”
Per ABC News, police have admitted that Nik Dimopoulos was mistakenly identified as the suspect in a case of home invasion and carjacking, after they tracked a stolen car to the Fitzroy address.
Police have said:
“The male was arrested on a roadway after leaving through a front door. The male sustained serious injuries as a result of the arrest and was subsequently conveyed to hospital where he remains.”
“The man police arrested was mistakenly identified as the suspect police were searching for that had fled the stolen vehicle nearby. Victoria Police acknowledge the distress this situation has caused the victim and the incident will be thoroughly investigated by Professional Standards Command.”
You can see the full statement via Hares & Hyenas owner Crusader Hillis here.
