Two police officers arrested following complaint by TikToker in Thessaloniki
Two police officers have been arrested following a complaint filed by TikToker "Teo Vasilis Dzoudassian" for six criminal offences. An Administrative Inquiry under Oath is expected to be conducted in the case.
Police arrests following TikToker pursuit in Thessaloniki
Two police officers have been arrested and are being held at Thessaloniki police headquarters following a complaint filed by a TikToker known as "Teo Vasilis Dzoudassian", according to Ethnos. An Administrative Inquiry under Oath (EDE) is expected to be conducted in the case.
The incident became widely known when the TikToker posted a video showing his damaged car and alleging that police officers, during the midday hours of Wednesday 30 September, smashed its windows with a baton on Lagkada Street in Thessaloniki.
The police officers' account
Citing police sources, thestival.gr reports that the pursuit began at the Analipsi toll booths, when patrolling police officers, as part of checks for illegal immigrant trafficking, spotted a car driving at excessive speed and not responding to their signals to stop. According to the same sources, during the pursuit the driver collided with parked vehicles in an attempt to escape. The officers claim they broke the front passenger and rear right windows because the driver had locked himself inside the vehicle.
The TikToker's account — lawyer's statement
A different picture was presented by the TikToker's lawyer, Othonass Papadopoulos, in a written statement he issued.
"This afternoon I was called by the well-known TikToker "TEO" to go to an area of Lagkada Street in Thessaloniki, where, as he complained to me, he had been attacked by police officers who caused damage to his car," Papadopoulos said.
According to the lawyer, two officers from the Aliens Department, assuming there were foreigners in the vehicle, suddenly attacked from behind with a special crystal-breaking tool and smashed the windows, causing serious damage. Subsequently, according to the same statement, the officers admitted their mistake and apologised.
However, when the TikToker requested that everyone go to the station to record the incident and expressed his intention to file a complaint for damage to his property, the officers, according to Papadopoulos, filed a false complaint against him for "disobedience", "violence against officials" and "dangerous driving", and made the arrest five hours after the incident at the police station — not on the spot, as would be expected.
Six criminal offences
The lawyer filed a complaint against the two officers for a total of six criminal offences: damage to another's property, threats, dangerous bodily injury resulting from injury caused by glass fragments, dereliction of duty, filing a false complaint, and false testimony. A complaint was also filed by the car's passenger, who according to Papadopoulos was also injured.
The prosecutor called on both the TikToker and the two officers to appear before him.
Video from previous incident
The lawyer pointed out that a video has been posted on the internet in which the same officers allegedly carried out a similar violent attack on another vehicle the previous day in the same area, using the same crystal-breaking tool.
Papadopoulos also announced that civil suits would be filed for the dissemination of false news through publications citing anonymous police sources. "We will exhaust all legal means to ensure that no citizen faces such violent, arbitrary and unlawful conduct again," he concluded.
Source: Ethnos