Man arrested for crashing car into Russian consulate in Sydney

SYDNEY: A man was arrested on Monday after ramming his car into the gates of the Russian consulate in Sydney, Australian police said.

Police said that officers responded shortly after 8 a.m. (2200 GMT) to reports of an unauthorised vehicle parked in the driveway of an address on Fullerton Street that corresponded with the location of the Russian consulate.

Officers attempted to speak to the driver before he drove his vehicle into the gates, New South Wales police said in a statement.

A neighbour who witnessed the incident said he saw the car force its way through the gates after the driver was instructed to step out of the vehicle.

“The policemen continued to ask him to get out of the car, he didn’t get out of the car. They drew their firearms,” he said, declining to give his name.

“It was quite dramatic on a Monday morning.”

Television footage from Australian networks Sky News and Nine showed a white SUV with a smashed window abandoned next to a Russian flagpole on the grounds of the consulate in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra.

“Get out of the car now,” police shouted at the man in the car inside the grounds, according to an eyewitness video of the incident viewed by Reuters.

A 39-year-old man was arrested and a 24-year-old constable received an injury to his hand, police said.

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A person who answered a phone at the consulate declined to comment on the incident.

Tim Enright, a construction worker who was on the roof of a nearby building at the time, said he saw a police officer taking photos of a car parked near the consulate around 8 a.m.

He said he then heard sirens and a police helicopter arrived at the scene.

A flatbed truck later took a white SUV from the grounds of the consulate, a Reuters witness said.

The consulate was briefly closed before reopening, said people behind a police cordon who had Monday visa appointments.