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 Thursdayin 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 boardedthe bus, a struggle with the suspect ensued in which the man unsuccessfullytried to take an officer's pistoland 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 anybodyelse."

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

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