Police have defended using a taser and baton on a woman accused of starting a fire inside a service station, insisting she posed a risk to herself and officers.
The woman, 46, was accused of setting a pile of firewood alight inside a 7-Eleven service station at Windsor in inner Melbourne at 12.30am on Wednesday.
Victoria Police acting Superintendent Josh Tink alleged the woman was holding a cigarette lighter and accelerant when officers asked her to drop the items, but she did not.
"We've got a woman who was out the front of the service station that was on fire holding a can of accelerant and also holding a cigarette lighter, which is an extremely confronting thing for police to attend to and have to deal with," he said.
"Obviously a risk both to the woman (and) the attending police.
"She was obviously metres away from live petrol bowsers at that time as well, and the officers needed to address that situation".
A video circulating online appears to show an officer striking the woman and using a taser on her, but doesn't show everything that happened, Supt Tink said.
"Some of the images of that arrest might be confronting for some people," he said.
"Can I highlight that the footage may not show the items that were in that woman's possession."
He said the internal police investigations team, Professional Standards Command, were comfortable with officers' actions.
However, a review from local police will determine whether it was appropriate to use a taser, which sparks, at a petrol station.
An attendant who tried to stop the woman suffered minor injuries when she allegedly assaulted him, Supt Tink said.
The smell of smoke lingered in the service station shop more than 12 hours later.
The Windsor woman was arrested and charged with criminal damage by fire, theft, resist police and unlawful assault.
She was bailed on the condition she does not return to the service station, to appear in court in May.
