Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro on
Thursday personally stopped a drunk man who had stripped off and
jumped into the Grand Canal for a cooling dip during the current
heat wave.
Swimming in Venice's canals is banned.
The incident, a short distance from the Constitution Bridge and
near Piazzale Roma's rail and bus terminals, was captured by
the Telechiara TV station.
In the footage, Brugnaro is seen getting out of the municipal
launch he was travelling in, walking along the canal bank, and
blocking the man, visibly drunk, who had dived into the water
half-naked.
While his staff calls police, the first citizen speaks to the
man and then hands him over to the local police.
The man was subsequently issued a DASPO ban on returning to
Venice, and a 459 euro fine for illegal swimming, obscene acts
in a public place, resisting arrest and causing a danger to
navigation.
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