A woman was charged with assaulting a police officer after she refused to step out of her car and resisted arrest at a COVID-19 checkpoint north of Melbourne.
“I am shaking, crying and in complete disbelief that I was treated this way,” Bonett, who was wearing a mask, wrote of the incident.
Victoria Police confirmed Bonett was arrested after allegedly refusing to provide her details and driver’s licence.
“Police spoke to the female driver at the checkpoint in relation to her mobile phone obstructing her view due to its position on the windscreen and explained that this was an offence,” a Victoria Police statement said.
“The woman refused to remove her phone from the windscreen.”
In the video posted on Facebook, the male officer can be heard asking for Bonett’s name and address.
“The problem is you’re not stating your name to me,” the officer is heard saying.
Bonett again refused to get out of the car.
“I don’t feel safe. You’re armed,” she said.
“You’re safe, don’t you worry about that,” the officer replied.
The footage then shows the officer lean into the vehicle as Bonett protests, before she is forcibly removed.
Police said Bonett had been warned she would be arrested if she did not provide her details.
She was later released and is expected to be charged on summons with driving with obscured vision, fail to produce a licence, fail to state her name and address, resist arrest, assault police and offensive language.
“Victoria Police reminds all drivers that the Road Safety Act requires that they must state their name and address and produce their driver’s licence when requested to do so by a police officer,” the police statement said.
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