BOGOTA — A Ridgefield Park police officer testified Wednesday that Bogota officer Regina Tasca interfered with his attempts to detain an emotionally disturbed person in April of 2011.

That incident, caught on camera, is at the center of the disciplinary hearings for Tasca, an 11-year veteran of the force who claims she's being targeted for "crossing the thin blue line" in her attempts to prevent "excessive use of force" against the man.

A panel lead by judge Richard J. Donohue has been reviewing evidence and testimony since last Tuesday, and on Wednesday reviewed video and audio captured from the dashboard of Tasca's cruiser and that of Ridgefield Park Sergeant Chris Thibault as Thibault described the events of April 29, 2011.

Records show that Tasca responded to a report of an emotionally disturbed person on Maplewood Avenue just before 5 p.m. that day. The parents of Kyle Sharp, 22, had called for emergency services after their son began acting erratically, and requested assistance transporting him to Bergen Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Through moment-by-moment analyses of the video, two conflicting accounts of what happened that day emerged on Wednesday.

According to Sgt. Thibault, who arrived from Ridgefield Park on a mutual aid request, he pulled up in his squad car to a quickly-escalating disturbance, as Sharp began yelling profanities and demanded that the officers leave his property.

"It was immediately apparent that it was going to be an involuntary transport," he said Wednesday. In audio captured from the scene, Sharp can be heard saying, "I'm going to [expletive] walk."

"He was walking away from the scene and it was unknown to me what was going to happen," he said. "The situation needed to end then and there."

Thibault tackled Sharp, putting him in a bear hug and bringing him down on his side.

Sharp was not under arrest, but Thibault testified that in the moment there was little difference between an arrest and the custodial detention officers were performing in order to transport him to a medical facility.

"My concern was that he was either going to become missing, that we were going to get into a foot pursuit with him, that we weren't going to be able to locate him at some point," he said. "Or it was my concern that a tragedy was going to occur, that it would end up in the road, and either I get hit by a car, or he gets hit by a car. It was unknown what was going to happen based on his behavior at that point.

Moments before Thibault had taken Sharp to the ground, Detective Sgt. Joseph Rella of the Ridgefield Park police, responding to an earlier call for backup from Thibault, arrived at the scene. Seeing Thibault and Sharp struggling, Rella quickly descended on the men, and in his efforts to subdue Sharp, struck him in the head.

As the blow landed, onlookers, Sharp's parents among them, began screaming.

Thibault described the punch as a "short, quick strike." Tasca, who at this point in the video began yelling at the Ridgefield Park police to stop and attempted to pull them off of Sharp, calls it "excessive force."

By Tasca's account, Sharp posed no danger as he began walking away from police, and her attorney, Catherine Elston, argued that in accordance to the attorney general's use of force guidelines, Thibault should have verbally commanded Sharp to stop before tackling him. She also noted that police officers who observe excessive use of force are expected to intervene.

Thibault contended that both he and Rella used appropriate levels of force, and that Tasca — whom he described in his incident report as "extremely emotional" during the fray — got in the way of subduing Sharp.

"With Officer Tasca pushing and pulling on Detective Sgt. Rella the way that she was, it only delayed the process," he said.

Tasca faces termination based on her behavior during the April 29 incident, as well as another earlier that month, and Bogota Police have also cited a psychological evaluation that found her unfit for duty. Elston told NJ.com she is suspicious of that ruling and plans to contest it in the proceedings.

"This is the same doctor that did the same exam on Regina in December and found her fit for duty," Elston said. "Four months later he did the same exam and found her unfit for duty."

Tasca also alleges that she's being discriminated against because she's the only woman on the force, and because she is gay.

Proceedings will be delayed until next month due to scheduling conflicts from the involved parties. Tasca remains suspended with pay until the outcome of the hearings.

"I'm in limbo," she told NJ.com. "And it's sad. I believe I did the right thing."

More coverage

• Incident caught on video to play central role in Bogota cop's disciplinary hearing (watch video)

• Suspended Bogota police officer: I was stopping 'excessive force'

• Bogota officer alleges discrimination, says she was fired for intervening in beating