Beloved Sydney personality Danny Lim has been left “unable to speak” after an altercation with police left him with a brain bleed and neck injury.

According to lawyer Chris Murphy, 78-year-old Danny – who is well known in Sydney CBD for his cheeky sandwich board signs – was walking from Sydney’s QVB to the train when he was stopped by police, who proceeded to arrest him.

Shocked bystanders captured the incident as it unfolded, during which police forced Danny to the ground, with one officer looking to have tripped the elderly man, leading Lim’s head hitting the tiles and resulting in a black eye and a bloody cheek.

Lim told Guardian Australia the officers then “smashed me on the concrete floor”.

“I could be dead when they threw me down like that,” he said.

He was rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital where doctors said he is now in a stable condition, though his lawyer revealed that he is “in a very poor state” and “unable to communicate clearly”.

Danny’s lawyer, Chris Murphy, told Daily Mail Australia, “You can see his Opal (transport) card next to him. He was walking to Town Hall station, on his way home, but paused at a telephone shop because he knew the owner.

Image: Twitter

“He’s a chatter, he wanted to have a chat! The owner was serving a customer so Mr Lim was waiting outside when police arrived. One woman was very distressed and filmed it,” he said, adding, ‘They all say the way police were harassing him was unnecessary. He was on his way home, he was harmless.”

NSW Police released a statement on Tuesday night saying Lim’s arrest will be investigated.

“An independent review will examine the actions of police during the arrest of a 78-year-old man in Sydney’s CBD earlier today,” the statement said.

“Shortly before 11am, officers from Sydney City Police Area Command were called by security to a shopping complex on George Street after a male had failed to leave the building when asked.

“Police will allege the man was subsequently issued with a move on direction by officers and failed to comply.

“As inquiries into the incident continue, an independent review has been launched, which will examine the actions of police during the incident.”

A NSW Police spokesperson added on Wednesday: ‘The matter has been triaged as a complaint and allocated to an investigator from another command within Central Metropolitan Region.

“In accordance with the NSW Police Force corporate policy on complaint handling and management, the internal investigation will have oversight from the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.”

It’s not the first time Danny Lim has been injured as a result of police.

In 2019, Lim was arrested for offensive behaviour in Bangaroo in an incident that saw NSW Police use unnecessary and aggressive force over his sign that read ‘SMILE CVN’T! WHY CVN’T’.

After footage of the arrest was shared online, hundreds of Sydneysiders took to Sydney Police Station to protest against the brutality shown towards Danny. He was later cleared of charges after a judge found his sign was cheeky, but not illegal.

You can check out the shocking footage of Danny’s arrest below.

https://twitter.com/chrismurphys/status/1594898646981496832

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