Aussie cop stops press conference to tackle suspect

Sydney: A police press conference in Australia took an arresting turn Wednesday when the speaker -- a senior detective -- suddenly bolted after a suspect and tackled him to the ground.

Detective Sergeant Daren Edwards was addressing the press on the lawn of a police station on Queensland´s Sunshine Coast when he heard the ruckus of a man being chased by an angry father.

"He´s been inappropriate to my daughter!" The father cried as Edwards, a former rugby league player, made a beeline for the suspect and felled him with a well-timed tackle.

"I dropped the shoulder and tackled him," Edwards later explained to local media, nursing a slight cut to his head.

The suspect, who identified himself as "Laszlo", was eventually restrained and handcuffed by several officers, while crying "Argh! Argh! Help me!"

"I did nothing... I said nothing to her! I just came out from the court!" he said as local news crews looked on.

A 39-year-old was later charged with unlawful stalking.

The 19-year-old woman told 9News: "He just asked me if I was single, saying that I was beautiful, and he was going to buy me stuff. I just told him to go away and I wasn´t interested."

The man had earlier interrupted the same press conference to complain about the police, prompting Edwards to issue a prophetic rebuttal: "You´ll get your day in court."