Vancouver police officer punched in face while responding to a disturbance on a bus

Vancouver police say a man remains in custody after an incident on a TransLink bus late Thursday in which an officer was allegedly punched in the face.

Officers and members of Transit security were called to the bus — stopped at Broadway and Heather Street — for a report of a man allegedly masturbating and harassing a female passenger at about 6 p.m.

"The information I have is the male was exposing himself on the bus," said Const. Tania Visintin. "The male was very aggressive."

Visintin said after police boarded the bus, a struggle with the suspect ensued in which the man unsuccessfully tried to take an officer's pistol and managed to grab a baton that was quickly recovered.

She said the man punched an officer and a member of Transit security in the face before he was arrested.

"These things do happen. Our members did the best they could," said Visintin. "They were able to gain control of our suspect before he injured anybody else."

Visintin said the man has history with police but wouldn't go into details. 

She said the officer who was punched was back at work on Friday uninjured.