Moments later, the officers repeatedly yell “get on the ground” and “hands on your back”.
James King, who lives opposite the consulate, said he was eating breakfast when he saw the SUV drive through the gates.
“A police officer then ran over to the car and started really smashing the window trying to get the guy out of the car,” he said.
“It was like watching an American reality show. It really was. We were like ‘this only happens in America, not in Sydney’.”
A neighbour who wished to remain anonymous told the Herald he “saw the policemen draw their guns at the gentleman, asking the gentleman to come out of his car”.
The smashed glass on the driver’s window.Credit: Nine News
The driver was apprehended with no apparent struggle, the neighbour said. He was arrested and taken to Surry Hills police station, where he is being held.
During the police response, a 24-year-old police officer sustained an injury to his hand. NSW Ambulance confirmed the man cut his hand, but it is not yet clear how he was injured.
Following the arrest, the vehicle could be seen on the grass with all its doors open. The glass in the front driver’s and passenger doors was shattered.
NSW Police’s dog unit was also seen searching the vehicle, which has been removed by a tow truck.
An AFP officer assisted NSW Police in arresting the driver.
“The AFP works alongside state and territory law enforcement, intelligence agencies and other Commonwealth entities to deliver protective security measures to the diplomatic community,” an AFP spokesperson said.
A consulate staff member with a hammer was seen making repairs to the gate, which remains operational and is now closed and guarded by AFP officers.
A man inside the grounds of the consulate inspects the damaged gate.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Members of the Russian community were let into the consulate grounds through an intercom-controlled pedestrian gate after the car was removed.
Pro-Kremlin influencer Simeon Boikov, who goes by the moniker Aussie Cossack online, has been holed up at the consulate for 1000 days after he was charged with assaulting a pro-Ukraine protester in Sydney.
He was woken by the sound of police sirens about 8.30am and, after initially thinking there was a fire next door, emerged to find the Toyota parked on the consulate’s lawn.
Boikov said the driver was already being pursued by police as he drove through the compound’s gates.
“From my side, it looks like a diplomatic asylum attempt,” Boikov told AAP.
The 39-year-old has been charged with three counts of destroying or damaging property, three counts of hindering or resisting police in the execution of duty, custody of a knife in a public place, use of an offensive weapon to prevent police investigation and entering enclosed land without a lawful excuse.
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