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Pat Battle, NBC NewschannelA good Samaritan trying to help the police ended up in handcuffs herself last week in Brunswick, New Jersey.
Monica Montoya was one of the first on the scene after a woman who didn't speak English was struck by a car.
Montoya, who works at a Dunkin Donuts down the block from the accident scene gave the bleeding woman a tissue, helped her call a relative, and as the videotape from the police cruiser camera shows, stuck around for almost 20 minutes.
When she realized she would be late to pick up her six year old daughter from her first day of summer school, she asked for a phone.
"I told the police I need call somebody to pick up my baby because it's my responsibility, nobody knows where the school is," said Montoya.
She says when none of the officers would give her a phone, she walked over to the crowd gathered at the scene to ask to borrow one.
That's when officer Harold Breuninger went after her.
His official report says she was irrational, trying to leave the scene, and that she was a danger to herself and to him.
"This police officer 's actions were illegal, irrational and brutal," said Martin Perez, Monica Montoya's lawyer.
She says she's traumatized now, afraid of police...and Officer Breuninger, who is a regular at Dunkin Donuts where she works.
