Video of a disabled Indigenous man being violently arrested in Taree NSW leads to a police investigation

The violent arrest of an 18-year-old indigenous man with a disability, during which he was thrown to the ground during a seizure, has sparked an internal investigation by police.

New South Wales Police were responding to reports that a man allegedly attempted to break into two homes in Wyoming Close, Taree, just after 4pm on Tuesday.

The suspect fled the scene on foot before being located a short time later at a property on Gwenneth Avenue, where footage shows the young man stumbling up a driveway before falling to the ground and having a seizure.

In video shared on social media, the officer can be seen pulling him up and pushing him down the path before the teenager collapses again and is then handcuffed.

A second video shows the same officer escorting the young man several steps down the street before brutally beating his legs off in a brutal leg-swinging maneuver.

“There were other ways to deal with him,” the teen’s aunt said.

“He didn’t resist the arrest or anything like that.”

“You almost broke that little boy’s arm. “This little guy was having seizures and they didn’t even have the courtesy to call an ambulance,” she said The guard.

His aunt claimed he hit his head and injured himself when he was arrested.

The 18-year-old lives with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and has been on a disability pension since he was 16, she added.

NSW Police are conducting an internal investigation into the violent arrest of an 18-year-old Indigenous man with a disability who was knocked off his feet during a leg sweep (pictured).

Police were responding to reports of a man attempting to break into two properties in Wyoming Close, Taree, shortly after 4pm before the young man was found on Gwenneth Avenue a short time later (pictured).

He was charged with possession of suspected stolen goods and was refused bail after appearing in Taree Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

“I thought I was going to die in the cell last night,” the teenager told his aunt from jail on Thursday.

“I could not move.”

A NSW Police spokesman said an internal investigation into the arrest was ongoing.

“The investigation, conducted by the Manning-Great Lakes Police District, will examine the response and arrest of a police officer,” the statement said.

No comment was made on whether the teenager was offered medical attention.

The young man is scheduled to appear in court again on September 18.