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A High Wycombe man has accused Thames Valley Police officers of “brutality” after he was stopped in the street in the early hours of the morning.

Alex Snowball, who admits he has a “troubled history” with the force, hit headlines last year when he was handed a penalty notice by police for drinking carrot juice out of a beer can – an incident that sparked a complicated legal battle with the council and left him with a criminal record.

Mr Snowball, who used to run Snowies in Frogmoor, claims he has been harassed by police for years and the latest incident – some of which was caught on camera - happened on May 6.

He told the Bucks Free Press that after a long drive back to High Wycombe from visiting family in Huddersfield, he arrived at Bassetsbury Lane – where he parked his van to walk the 20 minutes home – at around 1.50am with a friend and was carrying his own laptop in his arms when he was stopped by a passing police car because there had apparently been burglaries in the area.

Because of his difficult history with the police, Mr Snowball says he felt “immediately threatened” and called 999 on his mobile phone to make sure he was “kept safe” while he continued to walk away from the officers.

After he was “wrestled” to the ground by the police officers, his friend started recording what was going on.

Mr Snowball, who struggles with health conditions, tennis elbow and an ankle injury, explained: “The footage then captures this next part of the incident quite well as I scream to be protected from Thames Valley Police whilst attempting to speak to the call handler to dispatch a unit to protect me from TVP.

“I don’t really remember what the handler says but I am clear with my message that I have done nothing wrong, I am being arrested or something, I need protection from Thames Valley Police and they are harassing me.

“I don’t struggle for long, not that I would readily describe it as a struggle more as a submission, as all my focus, attention and strength remain on protecting the laptop and phone and pleading for help from the call handler.

“This lasts for about 20 seconds from the time I hit the floor, when I have made these pleas, all the usable strength in my body is spent and all of my muscles relax to protect themselves from harm knowing that if I attempted to protect myself any further it would lead to further damage to my body.”

He then claims that one of the two officers “flicks” the phone from his hand ending the 999 call, before his arm was twisted “sharply” by the other – describing their actions as “upsetting” and likening it to “torture”.

He was placed in handcuffs and more police arrived at the scene, who Mr Snowball says claimed he had tried to evade the officers and swore at them, which led to him being detained – a suggestion he said was “offensive”.

He also claimed they told him there had been a number of burglaries in the area and they feared he may have stolen the laptop he had been carrying.

After he was searched, Mr Snowball says his laptop was seized and his mobile phone was damaged.

According to the stop and search records issued afterwards, officers said they found a “suspected stolen laptop”. Mr Snowball’s reads: “Male seen carrying electrical items in early hours of the morning. Males were seen walking out from behind vars. Male then tried to evade police.”

The record for Mr Snowball’s friend reads: “Males seen acting sus[picious], attempts made to establish what they were doing, males attempted to evade police. Males carrying electrical items and seen near to cars.”

Mr Snowball has submitted a formal complaint to Thames Valley Police about the incident, which could take 30 to 90 days for a response – but says he doesn’t expect anything to come of it.

He said: “I am aware that violent crime is on the up and believe it is down to the mistrust gained by officers not following guidelines and not called up when they abuse their position of power or admit when they have made a mistake, further ostracising the vulnerable, such as myself, within the local communities which over time descends into lawlessness and disorder as people become frustrated with the law.”

He also claims he has had to leave High Wycombe and now stays in “safe houses” because of the way he has been treated.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: “A complaint has been made to Thames Valley Police, therefore it would be inappropriate to comment while the complaint is being investigated.”