A multi-millionaire banker has reportedly been arrested in London by police hunting the “Putney Pusher”.
Police confirmed they had arrested a 44-year-old man in relation to the notorious incident when a jogger shoved a female pedestrian into the path of a double-decker bus on Putney Bridge in 2017.
The shocking incident was captured on CCTV. The woman avoided serious injury thanks to the quick reflexes of the hero bus driver who managed to avoid her.
The latest development in the police investigation is in its early stages but it it is understood to be a “significant line of inquiry”.
The Daily Mail reported that the arrested man is a banker who was detained at his £1.4million home in west London on Monday.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "On Monday, 15 June, a 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm.
"He was taken to police custody, where he remains.
"The arrest relates to an incident on 5 May 2017, where a woman was pushed into the path of a bus on Putney Bridge in Putney.
"Inquiries continue."
The incident in 2017 sparked huge interest and became one of Britain's most compelling unsolved cases.
Detectives interviewed 50 men and arrested three suspects, including an American investment banker - who was able to prove that he was in the US at the time.
But no suspect was ever charge in the case.
The investigation was closed in 2018 before new information came to light that led to the arrest.
The 33-year-old woman was launched into a busy lane on the bridge at around 7.40am on May 5, 2017, by a man - believed to be a stranger to her - as he ran past.
The grey-shirted runner then returned to the scene about 15 minutes later– running in the opposite direction.
He completely ignored the woman as she tried to confront him about the attack, calling for him to stop.
Bus driver Olivier Salbris managed to swerve to avoid hitting her by inches with his 430 bus as she lay on the ground following the push.
Mr Salbris previously told the Daily Mail: “I always think about the case and I still drive over Putney Bridge several times a day.
“Whenever I’m on the bridge, I look very carefully at the pedestrians on the pavement, I just can’t help it. I wouldn’t say it haunts me, but it’s not something I can easily forget.
“I’m glad my reactions were quick on that day, or it would have ended very differently, both for me and the woman who was pushed. Her head was only a few centimetres from the bus and the wheel, even after I swerved to avoid her.”
