Thirteen cops deployed to deal with sandwich on Tilburg bus: video

An incident caused by two men eating a sandwich on a Tilburg bus on Wednesday ended in a 25-year-old man being detained in an arrest involving 13 police officers. Several videos of the arrest on Conservatoriumlaan were shared on social media.

According to Yoni Klarenbeek, a fellow passenger on the bus who posted a video of the arrest on Facebook, the trouble revolved around a sandwich. "The guy did not want to discard the sandwich when the bus driver asked him to, except for eating on the bus he was doing nothing wrong. No swearing, no threats."

Klarenbeek writes that the bus driver would not drive any further if the 25-year-old man would not put his sandwich away. After several minutes the driver did drive on, at the insistence of the other passengers. He also called the police. "He called the police because he felt 'unsafe'. That's all." Klarenbeek writes. "There was nothing to feel 'unsafe' about."  At the next bus stop the police got on the bus.

The video she posted with her account of what happened show two officers trying to arrest the man. The young man resists and more officers enter the scene. "It is ridiculous how the police act here, it was totally unnecessary", Klarenbeek writes.

In a statement posted on the police website on Thursday, the police say that the 25-year-old man was arrested for refusing to follow police orders and that he vehemently resisted arrest. Officers addressed the man and asked him to get out of the bus. To which he responded with phrases like: "Who do you think you are, I'm not going to leave the bus" and "I'm not going out, you think because you have a package I'll listen to you", according to the police.

One of the two men then got out of the bus, but the 25-year-old stayed. He was arrested and the officers removed him from the bus by force, according to the police. He resisted to such an extent that one of the officers called for backup, to which dozens of nearby officers responded. "Within moments there were a dozen officers who blocked access to the area so that the three officers could bring the subject under control, could cuff hm and could take him to the police station. The 25-year-old man was arrested because he did not follow an order and because he resisted arrest. The suspect was released during the course of the evening after questioning", the police write.

According to the police, violence against people performing public tasks resulted in the police and bus companies making specific agreements. "One of these agreements is that we react quickly and effectively if a bus driver indicates that there are problems in a bus", the police write.

"A bystander recorded a portion of this incident. And as is often the case, the actual reason for the incident is not on the recording, including the derogatory behavior of the accused towards the bus driver and the officers." the police continue. "The suggestive comments with the video creates an image that is not the truth. Different media picked up the video with a suggestive story. Almost no media asked for a rebuttal. There was also no waiting for the whole story to be clear and until we as police could give a response. As we see so much lately, it's not about the accuracy of the story, but about the first one who can tell it."