Natalie Bonett, dramatically arrested at a regional Victorian virus checkpoint
Dramatic footage shows a woman screaming and scrambling as she is ripped from her car by police at a Victorian virus checkpoint. Now police have responded.
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Police say they expect to charge a woman shown in confronting footage being physically dragged from her car by a police officer at a coronavirus checkpoint in Victoria.
In a video shared on social media by Natalie Bonett, she claimed she was going through a checkpoint in the town of Wallan, which was something she said she did “every single day”.
Armed with her license and permit, she said she was stopped before entering the checkpoint.
“The police officer told me that it was against the law to have my phone on a car charger mount on my windshield,” she wrote in a public Facebook post.
“I was in disbelief. He then attempted to get into my vehicle at which I started recording
“They called for backup and had four police officers grab me by the legs and pull me out of my car and arrest me.
“While trying to cuff me they had their knees in my back and I couldn’t breathe.
“My blood is boiling.”
On Sunday afternoon police released a statement confirming officers spoke to Ms Bonett “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”.
“The woman refused to remove her phone from the windscreen,” the spokesman said.
The police spokesman alleged that Ms Bonett refused to supply her details and driver’s licence which are offences under the Road Safety Act.
“The woman was warned that if she did not provide her details, she would be arrested,” the spokesman said.
“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.”
Ms Bonett has since told the Herald Sun that four officers constricted her airways during the dramatic arrest.
The 29-year-old shared pictures of bruising she claims she was left with from the incident.
“Before I recorded them (the police) I said I would show my licence, and I always do, I just wanted to talk to someone else so I (felt) comfortable,” she told the Herald Sun.
Ms Bonett said she suffered from an auto-immune disorder and mental health issues, and she did not feel comfortable getting out of her car.
“I was basically put on my stomach by four officers,” she said.
“They cuffed me, they were being so rough... my airways were constricted by how they were kneeing me on my back.”
In the footage Ms Bonett shared, she questioned why she was being asked to get out of the car over a phone charger, which she said “is sold everywhere.”
“That’s not the problem anymore,” a police officer says in the vision.
“The problem is now that you won’t state your name.”
Ms Bonett can be heard telling police she would not get out of the car because she didn’t “feel safe”.
“You’re armed,” she says in the video.
“You’re safe, don’t you worry about that,” a police officer can be heard saying.
In response, Ms Bonett says in the video: “I don’t feel safe. You’re attempting to get into my vehicle.”
A police officer can then be seen opening the driver door, shocking Ms Bonett who yells “what are you doing?”
As police attempt to unbuckle her seatbelt, a visibly shaken Ms Bonett says “why? excuse me! What the f*** are you doing?
Ms Bonett becomes physically responsive, as she battles against the police officer attempting to remove her from her car, shouting “Get the f*** off me! What the f*** are you doing?!”
A male passenger can then be heard telling police to “Relax! She’s actually sick, relax!”
She is then visibly dragged from the car, as the male passenger climbs over to the driver’s seat asking police to relax and let her go.
Liberal MP Tim Smith described the alleged ordeal as “ugly” and a “massive overreach of police power.”
“I won’t jump to any further conclusions as context is important, but there had better be a good explanation by the Andrews Labor government tomorrow,” he said when sharing the video on Twitter on Saturday night.
Originally published as Natalie Bonett, dramatically arrested at a regional Victorian virus checkpoint