Police visit bookshop to make personal apology to victims of bungled raid
One of Victoria's top ranking police officers has taken the rare step of offering a face-to-face apology to the housemates of the man who was wrongly arrested and seriously injured in a bungled pre-dawn raid on Saturday.
Police earlier admitted they "stuffed up" the raid on LGBTI bookshop Hares & Hyenas in Fitzroy, where heavily armed officers arrested Nik Dimopoulos and left him with a shattered arm in a terrible case of mistaken identity.
Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius personally visited the bookshop on Monday afternoon to apologise to Mr Dimopoulos' housemates .
"I said to the gentleman there that ofcourse I was very sorry about what had happened, in particular very sorry about the injuries their friend has suffered," Mr Cornelius told reporters outside the shop.
"I’m very keen to hear from them if there’s anything I can do to ... make a bad situation better."
Shortly before Mr Cornelius arrived, members of the public left flowers at the front door of the shop as a show of support for Mr Dimopoulos.
Police stormed the apartment attached to the bookshop on Johnston Street about 2am on Saturday while searching for what residents were told was an "armed member of a 'Lebanese' gang".
Mr Dimopoulos, fearing he was the target of a hate crime, ran from the apartment.
He was thrown to the footpath by police and his arm was broken in several places as he was restrained, in a case of mistaken identity. He may lose some use of his arm.
He and his two housemates were alseep in their beds when police forced their way into the apartment, the victims' lawyer Jeremy King said.
Mr Cornelius offered an apology to Mr Dimopoulos on radio station 3AW earlier on Monday morning.
"I'm very keen to convey how appalled I am and the extent of the injuries that Mr Dimopoulos has suffered," he said.
"I would be looking to express to Mr Dimopoulos in the most clear terms that I'm very sorry that what has happened to him has happened."
Mr Cornelius conceded police had made mistakes.
"It's very clear to us that police stuffed this one up," he said at a Monday morning press conference.
The officers involved have not been suspended, a decision that will be made by Professional Standards Command.
"They are not decisions that we rush into, and in fairness to our members, we have to afford them procedural fairness. We can't pre-judge this thing."
But the matter has been referred to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.
Officers from the Professional Standards Command spoke with Mr Dimopoulos on Sunday.
Mr Cornelius was confident there was no evidence police had targeted the premises as the result of homophobia, saying they had no local knowledge of the property or who lived there.
Mr Cornelius, who led the Victoria Police response to sex discrimination and sexual harassment, said the residents already feared for their safety.
"In this case, it's very clear to me we're dealing with people who were for some time concerned for their safety," he said.
Mr Dimopoulos, who is known as a pioneer of Melbourne's gay dance party scene, was hospitalised with extensive injuries. Surgeons were forced to take bone grafts and insert pins to repair his badly shattered arm and shoulder.
Multiple specialist units, including the dog squad and air wing, were searching properties around Johnston Street for an "armed member of a Lebanese gang", who was seen in a stolen car linked to a violent home invasion and carjacking in Brighton East on May 5.
A male "fitting a description given to members" was seen at an address before 2.30am, police said.
Heavily armed officers, including five or six members from the critical incident response team, then stormed the apartment above the well-known gay community bookshop.
Mr Dimopoulos' housemate, prominent gay writer and activist Crusader Hillis, said police failed to identify themselves as they stormed the apartment, and his friend fled in fear.
He said Mr Dimopoulos was left "screaming and crying in pain" on the road after police restrained him.
"By the time I got there, he was bunched into the gutter with hands in plastic restraints. There were several armed police around him, some dressed in riot gear and semi-automatic weapons," Mr Hillis said.
The Hares & Hyenas shopfront has been an important gay community hub for almost 30 years. Mr Dimopoulos staged regular dance events in Melbourne, Sydney and London.
Jeremy King, of Robinson Gill Lawyers, said his clients wanted police to be held accountable for the mistaken arrest.
"They are currently considering their legal options. We will not let this matter rest until those involved have been held accountable," Mr King told The Age.
Police Minister Lisa Neville has demanded a "full explanation", while Minister for Equality Martin Foley took to Twitter to say he was "deeply shocked and distressed" at the attack.
Correction: Earlier Mr Cornelius said police had not yet spoken to Nik Dimopoulos. He later confirmed they had.