- A Victorian police officer caught on camera choking a woman who wasn’t wearing a mask will be investigated
- The incident occurred on Monday, with the young woman arrested after allegedly abusing police when they asked her why she wasn’t wearing a mask
- The 21-year-old had a medical exemption, however, footage has since gone viral showing one officer choking the woman while arresting her
- In the meantime, Victorian officials said only 278 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded today, the lowest daily number in weeks
- In NSW the situation is slightly different, with a new death occurring there for the first time in almost two weeks
A Victorian police officer caught on camera choking a young woman during an arrest will have his conduct reviewed.
The incident occurred on Monday in Melbourne, with officers attempting to question the woman as to why she wasn’t wearing a now-mandatory mask.
The 21-year-old allegedly became abusive, and that’s when the officers arrested her — with the whole incident caught on camera.
The footage shows a male officer placing his hands around the woman’s neck as she screamed, “He’s choking me. He’s choking me. Get off of me. Get off.”
The video then shows the 21-year-old kick one of the officers, before being brought to the ground and detained.
She was later charged with assault, however, the woman wasn’t fined for not wearing a mask, as she did have an exemption.
Following footage of the incident going viral, Victoria Police have confirmed they will have the arrest looked over by their professional standards command.
The arrest on Monday is part of a wider crackdown by Victorian officials to stop anyone violating its strict new stage four lockdown.
Among the new restrictions is a rule that face masks must be worn at all times in public by anyone in Melbourne aged over 12.
It’s hoped masks will stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has so far killed more than 270 people in Victoria alone.
Health officials did announce some good news today though, with the number of daily cases in Victoria dropping below 300 for the first time in two weeks.
278 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the state in the last 24 hours, along with eight more deaths.
In neighbouring NSW, another 12 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded.
A woman in her 80s also died in NSW after contracting the coronavirus, the first death in the state in almost two weeks.
NSW’s total death toll from the coronavirus now stands at 53.