Moment topless England ace Billy Vunipola LAUGHS despite being tasered after ‘downing four Amarettos & slapping cop’
ENGLAND rugby star Billy Vunipola “laughed” at cops the first time they tried to taser him after he allegedly hurled chairs at bar staff.
The Saracens player, 31, was arrested in a Majorcan late-night bar and tasered twice by cops in a scene that was “like a film”.
Witnesses claimed on Monday that Vunipola appeared unfazed by the first stun gun shot and was only knocked to the ground when police fired at him a second time.
One witness said: “He laughed the first time they went to taser him, it was like a film, and I heard the words ‘another one’ and the second time round he fell to the ground and the officers immobilised him and put wrist-ties on him.”
The rugby player, who was born in Australia and moved to the UK with his family when he was a child, reportedly threatened customers and staff in the bar after removing his shirt about 4.30am on Sunday.
Vunipola has denied making threats, engaging in a fight or violence, and throwing “bottles or chairs or anything else”.
Cops responded to a call from security staff at Epic bar in the island’s capital, Palma, who said a “big man” was throwing bottles and bar stools at them, Majorca Daily Bulletin reports.
Vunipola spoke to the allegations about midday Monday, stating: “I can confirm I was involved in an unfortunate misunderstanding when I was leaving a club in Mallorca on Sunday, which got out of hand.
“Contrary to media reports, there was no violence, no fight and I did not threaten anybody at any stage, with bottles or chairs or anything else.”
The Saracens No.8 was said to have been unaffected by the first taser police used on him while trying to resolve the situation.
But police said on Monday that the taser did not discharge the first time because the shot fired hit his wallet.
A National Police spokesman said: “It hit him in his wallet which meant it didn’t discharge as it hadn’t hit his muscles.
“The two prongs have to land on someone’s body to send out electricity and because the wallet got in the way the stun gun didn’t discharge.”
The premises was evacuated before Vunipola allegedly challenged the officers and flexed his muscles.
Cops eventually overpowered the 6ft2in-tall player, who weighs nearly 20st, and handcuffed him after tasering him a second time.
It took eight cops, as well as the taser shots, to subdue him.
Vunipola was taken to nearby hospital Son Espases, where he was reportedly sedated and strapped to his bed.
Security guards and cops had to watch over the sports star until the medication took effect, reports claimed.
Epic owner Toni Rocha said today that the rugby player had caused problems after arriving at the bar just before 3am on Sunday and “became worse” when he saw police officers arrive on scene.
Mr Rocha said: “I heard him insult police and say ‘f*****g cops’ at one point and there was another moment where he had his shirt off and hit an officer in the face with the top in his hand as the officer tried to reason with him.”
The bar owner said Vunipola and a friend ordered “six Amarettos with orange juice and freshly squeezed lime” as their first round, with “Billy having four and the friend the other two”.
Mr Rocha said Vunipola “started becoming a problem” the more he drank and had to be asked to put his shirt back on multiple times.
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After removing his shirt for a third time, the bar’s staff decided to call the police – who Mr Rocha said “had to call for back-up” when they arrived and Vunipola confronted them.
The bar owner said Vunipola “laughed the first time they went to taser him”.
Mr Rocha’s business partner Janek Krause added: “He was very drunk and got aggressive.
“He didn’t attack any customers or pick up bottles or any chairs but he was taking his shirt off when that’s not allowed in our bar and refusing requests to leave.
Mr Krause continued: “He was a very big guy with big muscles and a massive back. Our two doormen tried to reason with him before the police were called but it was impossible.
“He laughed after the first taser shot and only went down after the second.”
Vunipola was taken to court on Sunday afternoon and wore the same blue T-shirt and beige shorts he was arrested in.
He was released on bail pending an ongoing investigation.
Billy Vunipola's career
BILLY VUNIPOLA was born to Tongan parents in Australia in 1992 and moved to Wales aged six after his dad signed with Pontypool RFC.
He played for New Panteg RFC and Thornbury RFC as a youngster before landing a scholarship to the prestigious Harrow School.
His impressive displays for Harrow saw him picked up by Rugby Union giants Wasps.
He made his first-team debut in the 2011-12 season and made a further 29 appearances before leaving the club at the end of the following season.
Vunipola was snapped up by his current club Saracens, whom he’s won a slew of silverware with, in January 2013.
The 31-year-old has won three European Rugby Champions Cups and four Premiership titles with Sarries.
The fan favourite has scored 145 points in 178 appearances for Mark McCall’s side.
Vunipola has been a mainstay of England squads for the last 11 years, making 75 appearances for the Red Roses.
He made his England debut in their 2013 tour of South America, coming off the bench to score in a 32–3 win over Argentina.
Vunipola has tasted Six Nations glory three times with England and the bitter pain of World Cup final heartache in 2019.
A spokesman for the National Police in Majorca said on Monday morning that “a 31-year-old foreign man” was arrested on suspicion of a crime of disobedience and assaulting a police officer.
He said: “The events took place in a leisure establishment on the seafront in Palma, when a man was causing altercations inside the establishment.
“The man would not listen to reason and confronted the rest of the customers, and the security staff were unable to restrain him or remove him from the premises.
“The police were alerted and the officers, on seeing the man, who was shirtless and making gestures with his hands, cleared the premises.”
The spokesman said it was then that the man confronted cops and tried to assault officers.
He continued: “The police officers tried at all times to get him to calm down, but the man would not listen to reason.
“At that moment, the man pushed and slapped an officer and a policeman pulled out his electric stun gun and fired a first time although the gun didn’t discharge.
“A second projectile was then fired, which did the job, and it was then that the officers jumped on him and proceeded to immobilise him by shackling him, later taking him to Son Espases hospital for assessment and arrest.”
I will obviously cooperate with the Saracens internal process and unreservedly apologise for any inconvenience to all involved
Billy Vunipola
Saracens Rugby Club said on Monday that it was “aware of an incident involving Billy Vunipola in Majorca”.
The club added: “We will of course deal with this incident internally, and will not make any further comment until then.”
About midday on Monday, Vunipola said in a statement that he had been charged with “resisting the law” and paid a fine of 240 euros following an “express trial”.
The rugby player said: “The Spanish police investigation is now closed, and I am flying back to the UK today.
“I will obviously cooperate with the Saracens internal process and unreservedly apologise for any inconvenience to all involved.”
Vunipola’s arrest came after he revealed in a podcast with former Saracens team-mate Jim Hamilton that he started drinking at the age of 25, following his first knee operation.
He said last year: “I went from not drinking my whole life to getting my first serious injury… and thinking I’m gonna start drinking.
“Just before that I broke up with my now wife and I don’t know, I was just going through a weird phase of just wanting to be that 20-year-old who never got to be a 20-year-old.
“It sounds silly, but I never did that.”
Vunipola spent his childhood in Wales and the southwest of England after emigrating to the UK from Australia.
Inside Epic Palma bar
EPIC PALMA is the beachside bar that has holidaymakers partying long into the night.
The glossy establishment opens its doors at 9:30pm each evening, with revellers able to dance the night away until closing time at 5am.
Epic possesses a wide-ranging menu that caters to all tastes.
A series of cocktails vary from €10 to €11 – from a Cosmopolitan to a Sex on the Beach.
Party-goers can alternatively fork out €130 on a bottle of Beluga.
While some bottles of rum on the menu set punters back €170.
With a resident DJ on site on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, pulses are always racing at Epic.
The bar features a series of themed nights, including Deep House very Thursday.
He won a scholarship to attend the prestigious Harrow School, where he was picked by Rugby Union giants Wasps as a teenager.
The sports star recalled being “on the brink of getting relegated”.
He told the podcast: “Even at 17, I played my first game in the Prem, so I never got to just be a kid. It sounds ungrateful but I did it at 25 in the middle of my career.
“It’s no coincidence that all my injuries happened when I went on a bender essentially for 10 months before I went crawling back to my wife.”
Vunipola made 30 appearances for Wasps before signing for Saracens in January 2013.
He made his debut for England on the 2013 Summer Tour of Argentina and has since amassed nearly 80 caps.
His father and uncle both played for Tonga, while his cousin, Taupe Faletau, has been capped by Wales and British and Irish Lions.
