Spanish policeman ‘hero’ in New York after saving US officer from violent assault

A SPANISH policeman holidaying in New York has been applauded as a ‘hero’ after he saved a US officer from a violent assault.

Ruben Castillo, a Policia Nacional agent from Valencia, was walking with his girlfriend in Times Square when a man in his thirties ‘head-butted’ an officer and reached for her pistol.

With the US officer ‘dazed’ from the assault, Castillo leapt upon the attacker and handcuffed him.

“We were rolling around on the ground for a while, until I managed to restrain him completely and explained to the attacked agent that I was a Spanish policeman,” Castillo told Las Provincias.

The Spanish officer detained the man until more US agents arrived.

Thousands of people began to applaud Castillo’s heroic intervention.

The off-duty policeman however said he would prefer people to ‘help’ rather than applaud in future.