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This is the bizarre and hilarious moment police officers appear to accidentally try arrest one of their own – sparking confusion, shouting, and eventual apologies – outside a busy London overground station.
The extraordinary scene, captured in a viral video shared widely on social media, shows uniformed officers from the Metropolitan Police confronting two plain-clothed colleagues who appear to be in the middle of an arrest at Homerton Station in east London.
The clip, filmed by a bystander, begins with two men in casual clothing grappling with another man by the wall outside the station.
From a distance, it looks like an ordinary street altercation – until uniformed police suddenly rush in to intervene, apparently unaware that the two men are fellow officers.
According to the Met police, the mix-up took place just over a year ago but has only recently surfaced, sparking amusement and disbelief in equal measure.
From the footage is appears that the two plain-clothed officers had been in the process of detaining a suspect when the uniformed Met officers spotted the commotion and ran over to break it up.
In the chaos that follows, one of the undercover officers can be heard raising his voice in frustration, trying to make himself understood.
This is the bizarre and hilarious moment police officers accidentally try to arrest one of their own – sparking confusion, shouting, and eventual apologies – outside a busy London overground station
He shouts: ‘I told you we are police officers, listen to me. I told you three minutes ago. I am a sergeant. I’m literally here, I’m a police officer.’
For a few tense moments, both sides appear to talk over each other as the crowd gathers.
Then, realising their mistake, one of the uniformed officers steps back and says: ‘Sorry sir.’
The alleged undercover sergeant quickly takes control of the situation once more, motioning for the others to step away so he can continue dealing with the suspect.
The clip then shows the uniformed officers backing off, offering further apologies as they walk away.
‘Sorry, sir,’ one repeats, sounding embarrassed by the misunderstanding.
In the background, the suspect – still pressed against the wall – can be heard shouting in disbelief at the plain-clothed sergeant: ‘Are you mad? You could’ve been anybody.’
Meanwhile, the person filming the confrontation can hardly believe what they’re seeing, exclaiming: ‘Rah police fighting each other fam, flipping hell.’
Online viewers have since been left in stitches by the footage, as it has now been seen hundreds of thousands of times online.
One person said: ‘Metropolitan Police Vs British Transport Police definitely’.
While another added: ‘He ain’t under-cover police officer anymore.’
A third joked: ‘How many police does it take to listen to the undercover police officer.’
A fourth wrote: ‘Blue on blue.’
Both the Metropolitan Police and the British Transport Police have been approached for comment about the unusual incident.