AN EXCITING ARREST.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 34, 23 January 1912, Page 8

AN EXCITING ARREST.

SQUAD OF POLICE ENGAGED

In the course of a case heard at tho Central Police Court, Sydney, re ccntly, remarkable statements were made by the prosecuting police regarding the physical strength exhibited by an accused, Hans Sidel, a German, whom they had arrested on a charge of drunkenness.

Ft was stilted that the beginning of tl>e trouble was am altercation be tween Hans and another man, the pair coming to grips. Hans got a wrestler’s hold on his; opponent which, caused his tongue to protrude considerably and his face to become black. Two policemen arrived and' attempted to arrest Sidel, who hurled one of them against the window of a shop, a bystander preventing the office] trom going- right through the plate glass. At the same time Hans hurled the other constable in the opposite direction. The two policemen, an recovering their equilibrium, returned to the attack, but their attempt to handcuff Sidel failed. A civilian then went, to their assistance, and the three of them managed to handcuff thr man, hut not before ho had bitten the civilian on the hand. Later the struggling prisoner caught one of the constables by the trousers with his teeth and ripped the garment from the ankle to the hip. At this stage the police thought if time to draw their batons, with which they struck the man on tho head,, and a telephone message was despatched for reinforcements, four more police promptly arriving. In the meantime the strong man had broken tho handcuffs, and the six constables put on another pair. A two-horse lorry was then requisitioned, in which the prisoner was conveyed to the police station. But, the police said, lie still maintained a desperate struggle oven after ho was lodged iu the cell, where it was found one of bis legs was broken. Ho was treated at the hospital subsequently for an injured head, a broken leg, and a fractured ankle, emerging from tiio institution on crutches.

Side!, it was averred, was a carpenter by trade, and had wrestled with Hackenschmidt, more to learn points than anything else, his strength of hand being such that lie could bend silver coins between his thumb and lingers.. At one time ho lifted a fair-sized table with his teeth. He seemed a strong man naturally.