SYDNEY, June 20 (Xinhua) -- An Australian senior detective has become a viral Internet sensation on Thursday, after rugby-tackling an alleged offender during a media conference outside of a courtroom.
A detective senior sergeant in charge of the Sunshine Coast Criminal Investigation Branch, Daren Edwards, was speaking with journalists in front of the Maroochydore Magistrates Courthouse when a man sprinted past with another man in pursuit.
According to local media, the father in pursuit said the man he was chasing "made inappropriate comments" toward his teenage daughter.
Seeing the situation unfold, Edwards used his experience as a former rugby league player for the Redcliffe Dolphins to tackle the alleged offender to the ground.
"I dropped the shoulder and tackled him," Edwards told The Sunshine Coast Daily Newspaper after the incident on Wednesday.
"It was a good tackle. Right around the knees, it dropped him."
An instant hit online in less than 24 hours, the local police boss has garnered a massive amount of media attention from all around the world, with the video being viewed hundreds of thousands of times already on various social media platforms and international news networks.
After being handcuffed and taken into custody, the 39-year-old suspect was charged with unlawful stalking and committing public nuisance.
