The call of duty stays strong, no matter where you are in the world, for four Swedish policemen on holiday in Big Apple. They made headlines in New York when they helped stop a flight on the subway.
The four men, all in their twenties, were taking a train to watch a performance of the musical Les Misérables on Broadway. Suddenly the train announcer on Uptown 6 informed the passengers that an assault was taking place in the front car and asked if any police officers happened to be on board and might be able to assist.
https://youtu.be/dDAB35SYIr0
At the next stop, Bleeker street, the Scandinavian policemen headed to the front and saw two passengers beating another. The New York Post reports that Makrus Åsberg, Erik Naslund, Samuel Kvarzell and Eric Jansberger subdued the attacker, managed to apply an arm lock and held him down until local police arrived.
“It was pretty routine. We came just to make sure that no one got hurt,” said Jansbereger to the Post. Asberg said, “We came here for vacation. We’ve only been here one day. We’re not heroes, just tourists.” Jokingly he added that they desperately needed a beer after.
New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton swooned over the ‘boy band’, complimenting their use of safe and effective restraint tactics.
The story has received a lot of attention in Swedish media, and a number of US sites have featured the incident.
Swedish Police Officers Stopped Vicious Assault in New York Subway, written by Tor Kjolberg