Woman who pushed over a police officer at Melbourne Cup has been charged
A WOMAN who pushed over a senior police officer in full view of television cameras at the Melbourne Cup will be charged with assaulting police.
A WOMAN who pushed over a senior police officer in full view of television cameras will be charged with assaulting police.
The 25-year-old sent Acting Superintendent Steven Cooper flying backwards into a flower bed, after the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse yesterday. Acting Supt Cooper had been about to speak to media about the behaviour of the 94,000 strong crowd when the woman in the short blue dress approached him.
After he fell she turned around and giggled and seem surprised she was quickly led away by officers.
The woman posted a message on Channel 7’s Facebook page saying: “You guys forgot to mention that you told me to do it.”
She has been charged with assaulting police and will appear in court later this month. Aside from having his glasses broken, Acting Supt Cooper wasn’t injured.
He told media after his fall he saw the woman approaching and wondered what she wanted. “Very odd behaviour. She walked up to me and I thought ‘what’s she doing, is she just come over say hello or something ... Clearly not,” he told Channel 7.
At first he thought she was journalist coming to ask him something.
This morning Acting Supt Cooper told Melbourne radio station 3AW he was “copping it from all my mates” after the clip went viral.
“I certainly don’t condone the behaviour but I see why (it’s gone so much attention).”
“Apparently she made the comments ‘what do I need to do to get on the news?’. What motivated her I don’t know,” he said.
The unnamed woman became the sixth person to be evicted from the crowd. The others were for trespass, being drunk or anti-social behaviour.
As news.com.au reported yesterday, the fans at Flemington really let loose towards the end of the day. Sometimes the revelry can take an ugly turn, leaving the nation in a state of cultural cringe.
By 4.30pm, before the final race for the day had kicked off, a violent punch-up had broken out in front of the stands in the general admission section, with several men and a few women involved in the brawl. One man had blood streaming from his head as he was restrained by an officer.
The nasty scuffle, which had to be broken up by up to 10 police officers, was captured on camera by news.com.au and reveals just how rough things can get when racegoers have been drinking in the sun since 10am.
Most involved in the fight were swiftly ejected by security guards, who worked quickly to maintain order.
Drunk, but unquestionably more peaceful, were the hordes of punters passed out among the cigarette butts, broken plastic cups and discarded clothing items. One young woman leaving The Birdcage stumbled into a bush and had to be retrieved by a bemused girlfriend.
Staff members were already working quickly to clean the debris, but they were fighting an uphill battle against the thousands of seagulls, who got the hot tip on the leftovers and descended upon Flemington to feast.
andrew.koubaridis@news.com.au
Originally published as Woman who pushed over a police officer at Melbourne Cup has been charged
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