A Russian police officer has gone viral after being caught playing a suspect’s VR video game during an arrest at a St. Petersburg café, while his colleagues handled the detainee
A police officer has been caught playing a criminal’s VR video games while his colleagues arrested the suspect. During the raid, at a cafe, two cops went about their business checking over the detainee, whilst the third decided to relax.
The officer was seen trying on the VR goggles and picking up the sensors before playing the game. People in the cafe watched on awkwardly as the cop tried his hand at Beat Saber – whilst the man was arrested.
The arrest took place in St. Petersburg, Russia, on March 8 around 3:30pm. The video quickly went viral online racking up over 100,000 views across social media.
The suspect in the clip was detained by Russian authorities due to avoiding military conscription in his home country of Belarus. The man had organised a party in the cafe for his birthday, where friends could socialise and play games.
Despite the arrest taking place in front of them, staff helped adjust the settings for the officer to join in. After the trio left with the suspect, the friends continued to party despite the event being in honour of their friend.
It is unclear whether the officer will face any disciplinary proceedings. Viewers were left in stitches by the clip.
“Bro said, crime can wait, I’m about to beat my high score,” one person said. Another person added: “Community engagement, two birds one stone.”
One other person said: “Nah, that’s funny imagine the suspects face.” Another person said: “I’ll allow it.”
One other person added: “And the fourth officer watched with envious joy.” Nevertheless, such questionable behaviour also occurs here in the UK.
A police officer was recently “so intoxicated that he could not walk straight” after consuming wine whilst on duty would have faced dismissal had he not departed the force, a misconduct panel has determined. Former detective constable Sean Brierley visited Gravity Well Taproom on the evening of July 2, 2025 after being informed a suspect at Leyton police station was not yet ready to be questioned.
In video evidence from the east London establishment, the Metropolitan Police officer can be observed purchasing three glasses of white wine across two hours, according to the panel’s verdict. CCTV revealed Mr Brierley “unsteady on his feet”, “staggering” and “off balance” when he returned to the police station later that evening, the panel heard on February 12.
A custody sergeant provided testimony that Mr Brierley had “smelt drunk” and other personnel reported his speech had been “slurred”, the ruling stated. Outlining her conclusions, panel chair Commander Katie Lilburn wrote: “The fact that the former officer was so intoxicated that he could not walk straight meant that he was unfit to deal with a prisoner in custody, which was the purpose of him being at the police station.”
The panel heard that Mr Brierley’s colleagues had been so worried about his condition that they had organised a welfare check at his residence later that night. Officers who arrived at his home at approximately 12.20am “found him lying in his bed in a pair of boxer shorts, with the duvet pulled off him” and said he “looked very disoriented and was staring at the ceiling in a glazed manner,” the ruling stated.
Mr Brierley told the officers he was fine but failed to enquire why they were present or make any effort to cover himself or sit upright in bed, the panel was told, the Daily Star previously reported.
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