Franesko Vamvakaris, a citizen journalist, appeared in Ringwood Magistrates Court on Monday, March 31, facing charges of impersonating a police officer and unlawful assault.
The charges stem from two separate incidents where he allegedly pretended to be a police officer and attempted to perform citizen’s arrests on people he believed were on drugs.
In the first incident, Vamvakaris approached a young family with an 18-month-old child at Jells Park in Wheelers Hill, telling the father he was an off-duty officer and demanding his name and address.
When the father refused, Vamvakaris allegedly shoved him twice.
Later that day, he confronted a teenage couple at The Glen shopping centre, claiming to be an undercover cop and asking a 16-year-old boy to come with him for a drug search. The incident was caught on CCTV.
During his court appearance, Vamvakaris, who has since moved to Thailand, claimed he was performing a citizen’s arrest due to the family and teenagers allegedly being under the influence of drugs, a claim denied by the prosecution.
Vamvakaris indicated he would contest the charges and is scheduled for a contested hearing on August 11.
Source: Herald Sun.
