Autistic ‘Santa’ arrested, pepper sprayed in Australia

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A man who dressed up as Santa and arrested at a Melbourne Bunnings says he will file a complaint about police misconduct after a video of him being pepper sprayed went viral.

Bunnings shoppers were shocked when 65-year-old Brian Kerry dressed as Santa was pepper-sprayed by police as they arrested him at Frankston Bunnings about 1pm on Thursday.

Staff allege he was behaving erratically inside the warehouse and refused requests to leave.

Victoria Police claim he assaulted a police officer and resisted being escorted out of the store.

Dramatic footage of the arrest, filmed by witnesses, quickly gained a lot of attention online.

Kerry said he has autism, and people were coming up to him in the store while he was dressed as Santa, but he said he did nothing wrong.

“I’m doing my shopping. They claim I was causing a disturbance. People coming up to me is causing a disturbance?”

Despite being involved in similar incidents in the past, Kerry said he would continue dressing up as Santa next year.