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A single mother was “humiliated” after being arrested in her underwear in front of her neighbors and her 12-year-old daughter over an unpaid gas bill.
Belinda Goodwin was dragged from her Gold Coast apartment by two police officers on Saturday after initially forgetting to pay for $58 worth of fuel when her Apple Pay app didn’t work at a gas station in June.
Ms Goodwin received a court summons two months later, but she was under the impression that once she paid, she would not need to appear and the matter would be over.
To her surprise, the police showed up at her door and arrested her for failing to appear in court.
Ms Goodwin’s daughter Summer frantically filmed the painful moment her mother sobbed as she was dragged by her arms and legs to a waiting police van.
Belinda Goodwin was dragged from her Gold Coast apartment by two police officers on Saturday after initially forgetting to pay for $58 worth of fuel when her Apple Pay app didn’t work at a gas station in June.
Ms Goodwin and Summer described the experience as “humbling”.
“It was very humiliating for me too because we just moved in like they thought my mom had done something very wrong,” Summer told A Current Affair.
In the footage, Ms Goodwin can be heard asking what she had done to justify being dragged out of her home in front of Summer.
The officers continually asked her to “get up” after she fell to the ground several times.
Shortly after locking her mother in the back of the van, the officers told Summer to stay home alone until police finished processing Ms. Goodwin at the local station.
The officers then returned a short time later to ask the distraught girl to buy pants for Ms Goodwin, as she could not attend the station in just her underwear.
The commotion quickly attracted the attention of Ms. Goodwin’s neighbors in the apartment complex where the family had recently moved.
Ms Goodwin’s daughter Summer frantically filmed the painful moment as her mother sobbed as she was dragged towards a waiting police van by her arms and legs.
Ms Goodwin said that after receiving the notice to appear in court, she returned to the gas station where she had left, left her license behind the counter and paid the total.
The store employee happily accepted his payment and told him the situation “always happens.”
Ms Goodwin took aim at police for using two officers to arrest her over the bill she has since paid, when much more serious crimes require police attention.
“There are people here who like to break in, kill, stab, drive stolen cars,” she said.
Attorney Bill Poltz said that although Ms. Goodwin was arrested, the real victim in the incident was her daughter.
“The real victim here was the 12-year-old child who was traumatized,” he said.
“The police should not have left the child alone or should have made better arrangements for his care.”
Ms Goodwin called on police to publicly apologize for the way they handled her arrest.
“I want (the police) to come here and apologize to my neighbors, I want them to apologize to my daughter,” Ms Goodwin said.
“I just want them to apologize, they shouldn’t have done that.”
Ms Goodwin called on police to publicly apologize to her daughter Summer (left) and her neighbors for the humiliating arrest.
In a statement, Queensland Police confirmed they had executed a warrant for Ms Goodwin’s arrest over “a number of outstanding matters”.
“The officers informed the woman that she needed to go to the police station for a short time and would then be sent home,” the statement said.
“Once the woman was informed that she was being placed under arrest, she became obstructive to the officers, refusing to voluntarily accompany them, and at that time, a 12-year-old girl in the property got angry.
“Given the short time the woman was expected to be with the police, the neighbors cared for the child while the officers cared for the woman before returning her home.”
Police say unpaid fuel was not the main reason officers were at his home.
A review of the officers’ body cameras found their behavior was appropriate.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Queensland Police for comment.