Police used fishing hook to capture alleged criminal in canal

Police in Queensland, Australia, went to great lengths to catch an alleged armed criminal on the Gold Coast, chasing him down in a teenager's dinghy and finally capturing him with a gaff hook.



Officers said the man, 38, fled when they arrived at a Palm Beach house on Sunday morning over reports he was seen armed with a knife and trying to enter a house.



Neighbour David Rowe said the man tried to get away by jumping a number of fences into the nearby canal, where he tried to swim to the other side. Quick thinking police saw three teenagers cruising past in a dinghy and commandeered their vessel. "He was in the water a good 20 minutes or so before they used the gaff hook and pulled him to shore," Mr Rowe said.


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The alleged offender could been seen trying to swim away despite being hooked, until he was dragged to shore where three officers were waiting. The man, from Maroochydore, has been charged with possessing a knife, trespass and assault or obstruct police officer. "I've seen some weird arrests, but this is the weirdest one I've seen in a while," a Queensland police spokesman said.