Channel 7 cameraman Will Pristel remembers iconic moment he captured racegoer pushing over cop at 2015 Melbourne Cup

The Channel 7 cameraman responsible for capturing the viral moment a drunk racegoer pushed over a high ranking cop at the Melbourne Cup has spoken about the infamous moment for the first time in 10 years.

Sarah Finn, aged 24 at the time, found her 15 minutes of fame when she ran towards Acting Superintendent Steve Cooper and shoved him into a bush at Flemington in 2015.

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The entire incident was captured by veteran cameraman Will Pristel who happened to have his camera rolling at the time.

Finn’s antic made the news and the clip quickly went viral on social media, racking up millions of views.

Pristel was in demand the following day, speaking on TV and radio about what he had captured.

Later, he would go on to win an award for the infamous moment.

Ten years on from the iconic incident, Pristel took a trip down memory lane and spoke to 7NEWS.com.au about what exactly transpired.

He was among other cameramen waiting for Cooper to start a press conference about crowd behaviour when Finn, in her bright blue dress and heels, began walking towards them.

Acting Superintendent Steve Cooper was waiting to start a press conference about crowd behaviour at the Melbourne Cup when he was pushed by Sarah Finn. Credit: 7NEWS In a blue dress and heels, Finn ran over to Cooper and shoved him in to a bush in front of Pristel’s camera. Credit: 7NEWS

Pristel’s camera was rolling at the time — always good practice for a news cameraman — and Finn began chatting to the group.

Everything then escalated very quickly.

“I vaguely remember this drunk girl walking down towards us, she’s staggering a bit,” Pristel said.

“(Cooper was) off to the side and I kind of panned the camera around and saw what you see on the camera, is that she pushes the cop straight into the bushes.

“I couldn’t believe what I saw.”

He said police pounced on her straight away as the cameramen stood around in disbelief.

Finn then started yelling saying they had made her do it.

“You can hear on camera we didn’t say anything,” Pristel said.

“It was unfounded, nothing like that happened at all. I think it was something more to do with (her level of) intoxication.”

Finn was arrested and later pleaded guilty to one count of assault and to wilfully damaging Cooper’s reading glasses. Credit: 7NEWS

He wasn’t aware how viral the video had gone until he was heading home from work and saw the traction it was gaining on social media.

“I saw online how many likes it was getting (and I was thinking) oh God, this thing’s getting momentum,” Pristel said.

“And then it all blew up basically.

“I think by the end of that night it had like 300,000 views or something already, more than the actual Cup I think.”

Back in 2015 Finn told 7NEWS she was deeply sorry for her actions.

“I acknowledge a massive error in judgment on my behalf,” she said.

“My level of intoxication is no excuse.”

Speaking to 3AW Cooper recalled the incident saying he was caught off balance when Finn “whacked” him in the chest.

“I’m certainly copping it from mates from all over the world, so the only thing that’s hurt is my pride,” he said.

Finn faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court the following year and pleaded guilty to one count of assault and to wilfully damaging Cooper’s reading glasses.

Pristel has been a cameraman for over 30 years and now works for 7 Sport. Credit: Instagram

The court was told she wanted to get on the news and had sprinted 10m across the grass in high heels to push the police officer.

Her defence lawyer Anthony Brand said Finn had “poor impulse control and suffers chronic anxiety”.

Magistrate Megan Aumair said: “I accept this was not malicious, but it was reckless and stupid, you meant no harm by it.”

Finn was convicted, fined $800 and ordered to pay $150 for Cooper’s glasses.

Pristel has been a cameraman for more than 30 years but has since moved on from news and now works with 7Sport.

He’s covered everything from war zones to Olympic Games but is still shocked this remains one of the most famous things his camera has captured.

“It’s pretty astonishing actually,” Pristel said.

“(I) still don’t to this day understand how she did it and why she would do it.”

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