Four officers injured in attempt to bring down unruly bus passenger in Mijas

Three Guardia Civil officers and a Local Police officer have been injured while trying to control an unruly passenger on a bus in Mijas.

The 29-year-old suspect, of Senegalese origin, allegedly assaulted several passengers for no apparent reason, including an elderly man and a youth, who had tried to get him to calm down.

Police were called about 5pm on Sunday 12 May to the bus which was parked next to the A-7 motorway near the Jarales housing estate, in the municipality of Mijas. Guardia Civil officers interviewed the driver, who told them the man entered the bus in an aggressive way and was shouting so much that he had to pull over.

Officers noticed a youth with injuries on his face and blood stains on his clothes. He told police he saw the suspect hit an elderly man for no reason, to which he then asked the suspect to calm down but was instead allegedly hit by the aggressor. The Guardia Civil officers got on the bus to try to calm the man, who was still very agitated and refused to get off the bus, so they called for backup from the Local Police in Mijas.

It took six officers - four Guardia Civil and two Local Police - to bring down the suspect, who continued to be extraordinarily violent, according to sources. Of the six officers who intervened, four were injured. All required medical attention and are currently unable to work due to their injuries.

The man had to be escorted by eight officers to the police van, where he continued to kick and punch. One of the officers was even bitten in the chest.

Guardia Civil's justice association (JUCIL) will appear as a private prosecution in the trial for injuries suffered by three officers, as well as the Local Police officer from Mijas and a citizen, after being assaulted by the man.

"The arrest of this person, given his degree of violence, required a considerable presence of reinforcements, as the Guardia Civil officers were initially unable to deal with the situation, so the presence of two Local Police officers was required," said Pedro Rosa, head of JUCIL in Malaga.

"We [police officers] are confronted with these aggressors who sometimes show enormous violence without sufficient means to prevent harm to both ourselves and the detainees themselves," he added.