Mehajer 'assaults' Sydney TV reporter

Controversial former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer faces another assault charge after a run-in with journalists outside a Sydney police station.

Former Auburn City Council deputy mayor Salim Mehajer

Controversial former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer is facing another assault charge. (AAP)

Former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has capped off a colourful weekend by being charged with assaulting a television journalist in Sydney.

The 30-year-old had already been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and larceny over an early-morning argument with a taxi driver outside The Star casino on Sunday.

Mehajer also allegedly stole the driver's Eftpos machine and mobile phone before he was arrested in Darlinghurst.

He was questioned at Sydney's Day Street Police Station for several hours and allegedly slammed a car door on the arm of a female journalist while he was leaving in a white Porsche.

"Jump in, I'll have a little chat to you," he said before the incident.

Seven News footage shows the reporter holding a microphone inside the door before Mehajer slams it.

The controversial figure had attempted to leave the station in a taxi, but an awkward stand-off began when the driver refused to take him and requested police remove him from the cab.

Mehajer held a mobile phone to his ear, ignored an officer's orders and argued the cabbie had a "duty of care" to drive him.

At one point, the officer was forced to unlock the back door through the open driver's window.

Mehajer later took to Facebook to slam the "appalling" behaviour of a senior constable and uploaded a video showing the policeman holding up his middle finger to the camera.

"Sir, place a million cameras in front of me and all you'll see is my smile," he wrote.

Last year, police began an investigation after a video surfaced showing a furious Mehajer screaming abuse into a mobile phone camera.

The footage included threats towards Mehajer's wife Aysha Learmonth and her family.

"I hope you die, you f***ing slut," he yelled.

Mehajer has also appeared in court for various matters including apprehended violence orders and a debt case involving cleaning work at a Lidcombe development.

In September, he was banned from managing corporations for three years after the Administrative Appeals Tribunal upheld an ASIC ban for his "cavalier approach".

Mehajer will face Downing Centre Local Court over the weekend's charges on April 26, police said.


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Source: AAP



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