Victoria Police say they plan to charge a Melbourne woman with assaulting police after she posted a video of her arrest to social media showing her being dragged from a car by officers.
Police arrested 29-year-old Natalie Bonner after she allegedly refused to provide her details and driver’s licence at a checkpoint in Kalkallo just before 6pm on Saturday.
Ms Bonner was stopped at the checkpoint because her mobile phone was mounted on a charger on her windscreen.
Things escalated when she refused to get out of the car and also refused to provide her name to the officer.
The video shows the police officer reaching into the vehicle and undoing her seatbelt.
Ms Bonner claimed on social media that police called for backup and four officers grabbed her by the legs and pulled her from the car.
“While trying to cuff me, they had their knees in my back and I couldn’t breathe,” Ms Bonner said.
In the video, there is a man in the passenger seat who can be heard yelling that Ms Bonner is sick.
Victoria Police said in a statement that an officer spoke to Ms Bonner when she was first stopped, explaining that her mobile phone was obstructing her view due to its position on the windscreen and that this was an offence.
“The woman refused to remove her phone from the windscreen,” Victoria Police said in the statement.
“When asked for her name and address, the woman refused to supply her details which is an offence under Section 59 of the Road Safety Act. When asked to produce her driver’s licence, the woman also refused, which is also an offence under Section 59 of the Road Safety Act.”
“The woman was warned that if she did not provide her details, she would be arrested.
“She still refused and was asked by police to get out of her car. When she refused this request, she was taken from the car by officers and taken into custody.”
The Wallan woman was later released and is expected to be charged on summons with driving with obscured vision, fail to produce licence, fail to state her name and address, resist arrest, assault police and offensive language, police said.
When questioned about the incident, Premier Daniel Andrews defended police actions, saying “no-one is entitled to not provide their name, not provide their driver’s licence” when asked to by officers.