A man in a crowd grabbed French President Nicolas Sarkozy by the shoulder on Thursday, nearly knocking him to the ground before being tackled by security officers.

The French leader was walking along a crowd barrier in the town of Brax in southwest France and shaking hands when the brief incident occurred. The assailant reached out and roughly grabbed Mr. Sarkozy's suit on his right shoulder and pulled him toward the crowd.

The French president started to lose his balance before righting himself. Security officials pinned the assailant to the ground as Mr. Sarkozy looked on.

Authorities did not name the attacker, but said he was not armed. Police said he is 32 years old, lives in the Lot-et-Garonne region and works in the theatre business.