Inside the sad deterioration of the Melbourne Cup’s ‘woman in the short blue dress’ pushing a cop into a bush

In the long and not so illustrious catalog of drunken tomfoolery at the Melbourne Cup, Sarah Finn’s decision to push a cop into the woods during the 2015 event is one of the best remembered.

The then 24-year-old became a worldwide viral hit when, as ‘the woman in the short blue dress’, she marched up to Acting Chief Inspector Steven Cooper in her black stilettos and pushed him into a factory while he was on the phone at 3:30. p.m

Chief Inspector Cooper had, ironically, prepared for a media conference to praise the behavior of the 94,000-strong crowd at the event.

Before the attack, Finn even asked the waiting media, “What do I have to do to get in the news?”

The digital marketer then used both hands to push the agent into the woods – all captured on camera and quickly shared across the planet.

Chief Inspector Cooper escaped unscathed, with only bruised pride, saying, “I’ll take over from friends all over the world.”

“I thought she was one of the journalists who approached me and before I knew it, she knocked me over.

“Unfortunately, instead of making the news, I ended up making the news.”

Finn’s lawyer, Anthony Brand, told the Melbourne Magistrates Court his client was “slightly tipsy” but was “fraternizing” with police in a “jovial” manner prior to the incident.

She had indeed posted a photo on a police motorcycle to a Facebook group she was a member of called ‘I Do What I Wanna’, in the lead-up to the pushover.

She was fined $800, plus $117 in costs and $150 for the officer’s broken glasses. The court heard she had “poor impulse control” and suffered from anxiety.

Magistrate Megan Aumair fined Finn, telling her: “I accept it was not malicious.

“I admit it was reckless and stupid, but you meant no harm.”

Finn already had a long list of previous offenses before her run-in with the law in 2015, accused of car theft in 2011 before facing multiple drug-related charges and driving violations, including drug trafficking, in 2013.

The charges were later downgraded in 2015 to dealing with the proceeds of crime and possession of a weapon, for which she was convicted and fined $700.

Eight years later, Finn has certainly managed to stay out of the spotlight, but not out of the courtroom, with a string of drug and driving-related charges under her belt.

She was back in court in 2017 on more drug possession charges, which earned her a $750 fine. She was also hit with multiple traffic violations for toll evasion in 2017-2018.

Those charges were later dismissed under the special circumstances program, but she was back in the dock in 2019 for failing to provide an oral test to police and was banned from driving for two years and fined $1,000.

She was then caught driving without a license in 2019 and was fined another $150 and faces more driving violations.

Finn appears on social media as Sarsy Bear or Sarsy Bearsy. Her rare public posts include a strange selfie and some more bizarre photos.

One photo shows her posing in a carnival-style cage called ‘Down With Clowns’ while holding two balls, apparently inviting people to take potshots at her.

Another resembles the promotional poster for the ’90s arthouse film Being John Malkovich, with her pouting head shot repeated dozens of times.

The tagline for the 1999 Spike Jonze comedy, starring John Cusack and Cameron Diaz, was: “Ever wanted to be someone else?”

In another Finn, now 31, poses with a friend in what appears to be a cracked mirror.

Most of her appearances online now are mainly through her friends’ feeds, with a series of photos posted when she has friends over in Melbourne.

Finn’s most recent public post was of her legs while sunbathing on a tropical beach, captioned: “Take me back…” and adding: “There’s no beach like that in Melbourne.”