Andrew James Lang fined for Geraldton ‘citizen’s arrest’

The Geraldton man who dragged a woman into the Geraldton police station in a self-styled “citizen’s arrest” last year has been fined after police dropped a strangulation charge. Andrew James Lang reappeared in Geraldton Magistrate’s Court on Monday, when prosecutors withdrew a charge of impeding a person’s normal breathing by applying pressure to the neck. Police had previously told the court Lang was caught on CCTV dragging a “much smaller” woman from his car to the station. “He took hold by placing her in a headlock and dragged her along the footpath,” prosecutor Sgt Beau Jones said. “He punched her to the head several times, causing no injuries.” The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to aggravated common assault in May but denied he had strangled the woman. He had previously said it was a citizen’s arrest because the woman had allegedly stolen $3500 from him. When arrested outside the station on November 28, he told officers he was “doing the police’s job for them”. Magistrate Chris Miocevich warned him even if it was a citizen’s arrest, “you can’t just assault people”. Lang was fined $800 and $130.50 in court costs.