Police body camera footage has emerged of the moment Hawthorn duo Dylan Moore and Connor Macdonald were arrested in the US in the off-season. Video provided by Scottsdale Police Department to the Herald Sun has provided detailed insight into the evening.
The pair were detained in a car park for criminal trespass on November 8, 10:47pm, according to police. "While on patrol, officers spotted two people on a boom lift about eight feet high in the air," Scottsdale Police Department Sergeant Allison Sempsis said. "The subjects were contacted and told to come down. They were identified as Dylan Moore and Connor Macdonald. Connor and Dylan climbed down, and they were both placed under arrest for trespassing."
The footage shows the moment officers placed them in handcuffs. "You're under arrest for trespassing because it's not your property," one police officer said. Moore responded: "We didn't know that.... we saw a random thing."
The 26-year-old Moore had been in Phoenix for pre-season training and admitted that a drunken decision to climb onto a scissor lift led to police taking him into custody. "I was in the US, I was out having a few drinks, and made a foolish mistake, decided to get on a scissor lift and next thing I know the cops are there telling me to get off, and I got off, and next thing I know, I'm in police custody," Moore told Seven News.
Moore, who lost his title as Hawks vice-captain after the off-season incident, said another charge relating to drug paraphernalia had been dismissed. Moore has a sentencing hearing on July 13. Macdonald will learn his fate on August 4.
Moore completed a diversion program that included 16 hours of education on alcohol and relationships and will also carry out community service soon. The pair were fined by Hawthorn and have undergone alcohol counselling. They will also complete community service, but are not facing further sanction from the AFL.
Hawthorn's executive general manager of football Rob McCartney said the incident wasn't made public sooner for legal reasons. "It was a current legal matter at that time and we didn't want to impact or impede those proceedings, so it was a really easy decision for us to make," McCartney said at Hawks headquarters.
Details of the pair's arrest emerged publicly just three days out from the Hawks' Round 1 clash with traditional rivals Essendon. The arrests of Dylan Moore and Connor Macdonald, and the club's decision not to make them public sooner, have stirred questions about transparency and process inside the club.