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A Rhode Island cop felt threatened by an intoxicated handcuffed woman sitting on a curb who took a swipe at his ankle with her leg, so he defended himself by kicking her hard in the face, knocking her over where she ended up motionless.

The 2009 incident would have gone unnoticed had it not been caught on a security surveillance camera from a nearby business.

Now Lincoln police officer Edward Krawetz is on trial on felony assault charges, according to WPRI.

The video, which did not see the light of day until Wednesday in court, once again highlights the importance of being able to freely record police in public.

The video is so blatant that even Krawetz’s fellow cops testified that he was never in serious danger, even though his supervisor failed to acknowledge this detail in the initial report.

Another surveillance video from inside a bar shows the woman, Donna Levesque, was acting belligerent, slapping the face of her male companion.

And another video shows police dragging her out of the bar with her not appearing to walk willingly.

But police managed to handcuff her and sit her on the curb.

That was when Krawetz began rummaging through her purse for her identification.

And that was when Levesque swung at his ankle with her leg, prompting him to swiftly kick her hard in the face.

She was eventually charged with disorderly conduct.

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