Claim man arrested for cash withdrawal attempt short-changes truth
By Soofia Tariq in Sydney
WHAT WAS CLAIMED : A video shows a man being arrested for merely trying to withdraw cash.
OUR VERDICT : He was arrested for multiple alleged offences.
A man was not arrested for merely trying to withdraw his own money from a bank, despite claims on social media.
NSW Police confirmed that he was taken into custody for allegedly hindering police, behaving in an offensive manner in a public place, refusing to comply with a direction and breaching bail.
Police said that earlier in the day, before his arrest, the man had been told by bank staff that he could not withdraw funds because his account was empty.
The claim is in a Facebook post featuring a video of several officers dragging a man out of a Commonwealth Bank branch and putting him in the back of a police wagon across the street.
"All he wanted was his cash..bank said no" the overlay text on the video reads.
"AUSTRALIA: MAN ARRESTED FOR TRYING TO WITHDRAW HIS OWN MONEY," one post added.
"A man simply asked to take out $5,000 of his own cash — and the bank called the police. He was arrested for wanting access to his own funds."
"This isn't fiction. This is the war on cash — and it's already here. THE BANKS THINK YOUR MONEY IS THEIRS."
However, the post captions omit important context about the man's arrest.
The video shows a street sign reading "Redfern St" in the background, along with a business called 'PT Beauty and Nails' across the intersection.
A Google Maps search reveals there is a Commonwealth Bank branch on Redfern Street in Redfern, an inner suburb of Sydney.
Viewing that location in Street View mode shows the same bank branch and the aforementioned beauty business across the intersection.
AAP FactCheck has independently verified that the Redfern branch is the premises depicted in the video.
NSW Police confirmed a man was arrested at the bank branch in Redfern on January 18, 2024.
"Officers … were told a 27-year-old man requested withdrawal of money from his account where there were no funds available in it," a police spokesperson told AAP FactCheck.
Officers were also told the man allegedly damaged a desk and the protection window.
Police at the scene issued the man a direction to move on.
However, he allegedly returned later, and police were called again after he was accused of being abusive to staff.
The police spokesperson said officers returned to the bank and asked the man to leave.
When he did not leave as directed, he was arrested and taken to Mascot Police Station, the police spokesperson said.
The man was charged with hindering or resisting a police officer in the execution of duty, behaving in an offensive manner in a public place, refusing to comply with a direction and breaching bail.
He was not charged with any act related to withdrawing or attempting to withdraw money from the bank.
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