Shocking moment Aussie man leaps from fifth storey apartment
The stunt, which occurred on Sunday afternoon, captured the moment the Gold Coast man plummeted metres from the balcony into a pool below to avoid police.
A man's death-defying leap from a fifth storey apartment block during an alleged attempt to evade police has been caught on camera, with shocking footage showing him dangling over the edge, clinging on with just one arm before dropping into a pool below.
The dramatic vision, taken by stunned onlookers at the Canopy unit complex in Palm Beach on the Gold Coast on Sunday, shows the man hanging over the side of the balcony as police specialist officers attempt to talk him back over the ledge.
Police say the man, in his 30s, was allegedly under the influence of drugs at the time and was trying to run away from officers who had been called to his apartment for a welfare check, after neighbours called them in, Nine News reported.
Horror plunge from balcony caught on camera
Witness footage shows the man dangling over the edge of the balcony for multiple seconds as police try to calm him down and talk him back to safety. For a moment it appears to work, before the man drops and plummets an estimated 20 metres.
Multiple screams can be heard from horrified onlookers as the man plunges into the pool. He miraculously managed to escape with only minor injuries, having then allegedly fled on foot down the street.
"I've never seen anything like it," shocked neighbour Errol told told Nine News.
"I thought he needed help so I rang an ambulance," another neighbour Seth Mitchell said. "He was just going a bit crazy I think."
Police say they eventually caught up with him later that afternoon, reportedly apprehending him at his parents' house.
No charges have been so far laid.
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