Furious 'Karen' storms a Melbourne police station demanding to be 'removed from the files' after being handcuffed and arrested for refusing to wear a mask in public
- Chantal said she was arrested on Friday because she was not wearing a mask
- She claims she has a medical certificate which says she is an asthmatic
- In a Facebook livestream, Chantal went to the police station to remove her name
- People in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire are required to wear masks
A woman who was arrested by police for failing to wear a face mask in Melbourne has returned to the police station to demand officers remove her name from their files.
Chantal, who is asthmatic, the latest in a series of anti-COVID-19 lockdown 'Karens' to emerge in Melbourne, claimed she was arrested by police on Friday because she was not wearing a face mask.
Everyone in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire is required to wear a face mask when leaving their homes since July 23 as Victoria battles to contain a rampant second wave of coronavirus infections. Those who don't without a lawful excuse can be fined $200.
Victoria recorded 384 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday and another six deaths - with the state now having had 84 deaths with 4,774 active cases.
'I was arrested for not wearing a mask,' Chantal told a Facebook livestream on Monday.
'I was handcuffed and taken down to a holding area where they searched my bag, went through all my belongings until they found my identification.
Chantal (pictured), who is asthmatic, said she was arrested by police on Friday because she was not wearing a face mask
'They took my identification without my consent, so I am about to serve them some paperwork.'
Chantal was joined by 'pandemic' lawyer Peter Little as she presented documents at Dandenong Police Station, in Melbourne's south-east, on Monday.
Mr Little wore a balaclava while Chantal used an animal print scarf to occasionally cover her mouth as she spoke.
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'I'm serving them with a statutory declaration on my chronological order of the events of the 45 minutes of where it all took place, followed up by a notice of prohibition,' she said before entering the station.
'I'm hoping to just get my name off their records, that's the outcome I want today. I'm not interested in suing at this stage but maybe we can look at that later.'
In the 40-minute long livestream, Chantal is seen waiting inside the police station before speaking with an officer.
Pictured: Chantal speaks to a police officer at Dandenong Police Station on Monday
Chantal was joined by 'pandemic' lawyer Peter Little as she presented documents at Dandenong Police Station, in Melbourne's south-east, on Monday
She told viewers that she had a medical certificate for her asthma but it was not connected to her inability to wear a face mask.
'I have a black mold issue in my apartment and to get out of my lease I needed to go get a certificate from my GP to say that I have asthma,' she said.
'I had that documentation in my phone and it was not accepted because on the certificate it did not state that it was going to affect my ability to wear a mask.'
Chantal said the police officer questioned the severity of her asthma.
'He has no right to dictate what my medical condition is and what it allows me to do,' she said.
Mr Little filmed Chantal as she spoke to a police officer about filing her paperwork.
'There was a couple of things that happened that I wasn't very happy with, one being that I was detained under no law. I was detained because I did not provide my personal details,' she said.
'Which under this, I will read this out to you, is unlawful.'
Chantal said she was serving police a 'statutory declaration on my chronological order of the events of the 45 minutes'
Chantal then referred to a ruling from Justice Stephen Kaye in the Melbourne Supreme Court in November 2011.
He said it was an 'ancient principle of common law' that a person under arrest has no obligation to stop for police or answer their questions.
'I just wanted to read that out to you because I want to make sure my records are removed,' she said.
'I want to hand that over and make sure that my name is removed from your records.'
Chantal said she was 'shaking' as she spoke to the officer but she felt 'empowered' afterwards.
Residents in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire have been required to wear face masks when outside since Thursday July 23.
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