A Canberra man who police described as "belligerent" has made an official complaint after he was handcuffed, arrested and his home searched after a "traumatising incident" suspected to be motivated by racial profiling.
The 38-year-old man, who only wished to be identified as "Tuck", had just returned from a stint in hospital and was "catching some sun and mentally and physically recuperating" around the pool area of his Narrabundah unit complex around 12.15pm when police arrived and arrested him.
Minutes before, he had an interaction with a neighbour at the complex who told him he "was not supposed to be here" and told him to leave or police would be called.
"I've never met this person [the neighbour] before and I was upset at the lack of courtesy he showed me," Tuck said.
"I said: 'go ahead, I live here'."
Tuck, formerly from Zimbabwe and with Australian citizenship, had been living at the complex for three months before the incident on June 27. A resident in Canberra for years, he has multiple science degrees and works in health advocacy.
When police arrived, he had no identification with him by the poolside but gave his unit number, pointed out where he lived and had keys to the pool gate and his nearby townhouse.
Nonetheless, he was taken into custody, handcuffed and escorted to a police van while police used the keys provided to search his home for identification.
Police confirmed the incident took place. They said the man "became belligerent with police directions".
"Due to the man's behaviour, police had reasonable suspicion the man was trespassing and he was arrested," police said.
"As officers attempted to handcuff the man, he resisted, causing a minor injury to an officer's hand.
"After confirming the man was a resident of the apartment complex, he was 'unarrested'.
"ACT Policing considers the matter finalised with no offences identified."
No apology was offered by police for the arrest nor for the false accusation.
Tuck said he had encountered some isolated racist situations previously in Canberra but this was the first time where he had been physically manhandled "without a proper cause" and with an "obvious racial profiling element".
"This was a very unsettling and traumatising incident for me, completely without provocation, robbing me of my rights in a physical way," he said.
"I pose no physical threat to them [police]. I was already weak; to this day my upper forearm is tender [from the incident] and I have a sore back and a cut to my hand."
