Ciara Perez-Rodriguez shows where she was punched by a Cleveland police officer while she was in handcuffs. Perez-Rodriguez appeared Saturday in Cleveland Municipal Court on charges of assaulting a police officer.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland woman punched Thursday by a police officer while she was in handcuffs said Saturday that she spit on officers but disputed officers' accounts that she hit them.

Ciara Perez-Rodriguez, 21, said she threw a Pepsi bottle at police officers arresting friends and family members during an arrest sweep in her neighborhood, on West 80th Street near Detroit Avenue.

A bystander's cellphone video quickly garnered widespread attention. Perez-Rodriguez is charged with fourth-degree felony assault on a police officer. An arrest affidavit says she spit on several officers and kicked them.

"I'm a little pissed off but I'm okay," Perez-Rodriguez said after being released Saturday from the city jail after posting bond in the case. "I was not violent or anything. I spit on them but I wasn't violent or anything."

Cleveland Patrolmen's Association President Steve Loomis said the officer, who officials have not identified, did not punch Perez-Rodriguez. Loomis said the officer used his hand to prevent Perez-Rodriguez from spitting on more officers.

"Their video clearly shows a defensive open hand to prevent her from spitting in someone's face AGAIN," Loomis said in a text message.

Perez-Rodriguez said she was unsure if she was hit with a closed fist or open hand.

She said on Thursday she went to a nearby Family Dollar to put in a job application. Someone called and told her that police were arresting people she knew in the neighborhood.

Perez-Rodriguez went to the area and saw police arresting a 15-year-old boy.

"I got mad, and I threw the Pepsi at the cop car," Perez-Rodriguez said. "But I didn't hit anybody. So they come and hit me and grabbed my hair. I got bruises, my mouth was bleeding."

Perez-Rodriguez declined to speak more about the incident.

Perez-Rodriguez's 14-year-old cousin Andrew Perez said Perez-Rodriguez told officers she didn't want to give them her name. She walked away from the officers, who then arrested her, he said.

Perez-Rodriguez spit on the officer to try to stop him from arresting her, Andrew Perez said. He said an officer hit her, put her in a chokehold and dragged her to the ground.

An arrest affidavit says Perez-Rodriguez threw a Pepsi can at several police officers. The officers told her she was under arrest. She spit at two Cleveland police officers, court records say.

Officers wrote that she continued to fight with officers while being handcuffed and kicked one officer in the shin. She spit at another officer and kicked an officer twice, including once in the groin, according to court records.

The incident hit on two topics covered by the U.S. Justice Department's 2014 investigation into the Cleveland Police Department: the injuring of citizens already in handcuffs and the treatment of citizens with mental illnesses.

Perez-Rodriguez's father, Louis Perez, said his daughter suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

The Cleveland Police Monitoring Team wrote in its first report released in June that Cleveland police were making "tremendous progress" in the revamping of the department's use of force policy. That police is expected to be put before a federal judge for review this month.

The city in September reached a memorandum of understanding with the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County that aims to improve how police care for people with mental illness.

The step was similar to those recommended in the federal consent decree. The consent decree also mandated training for police officers to receive training when dealing with citizens that suffer from mental illness.

Cleveland police and city officials did not respond to questions except to say the incident is under investigation. They also did not respond to inquiries to see if the incident was captured on police body cameras.

Loomis said Perez-Rodriguez was standing in a crowd when she threw the bottle at officers who were conducting their investigation into violent crimes in the neighborhood.

"This young woman was spitting at and fighting with any cop she could," Loomis said.

Loomis said four supervisors were at the scene of the incident and that all had filled out proper paperwork for their use of force. The officers who were spit on also filled out injury forms, Loomis said.

"There will be a thorough investigation done not based alone on a poor-quality, two-dimensional cell phone video played at full speed by cleveland.com, but based on an actual investigation of fact," Loomis said. "A rush to judgment is irresponsible at best."