A former model turned the tables on a mugger, beating him senseless on a Manhattan street until cops finally pried her off, authorities said yesterday.

Silva Natividad, 54, yesterday credited the TV show “COPS” for spurring her to tackle Jonathan Burkes on First Avenue near 38th Street at noon Monday.

“He grabbed my money and pushed me,” she said. “But I didn’t fall. I got a grip on myself.”

Natividad said Burkes tried to take off with the cash, but “you know how in ‘COPS,’ when they jump on the person before they run away? That’s what I did.”

“I just wanted my money. I was p- – – ed. Angry doesn’t begin to describe how I felt.”

Cops said the arrest of Burkes, 42, “saved” him from his victim’s blows. He was charged with robbery and criminal possession of stolen property

“He was trying to punch me to get away and I was punching him,” Natividad said. “He must have lost his footing because he fell and I jumped right on top of him.

“My money was . . . in his hand. I started banging his fist against the concrete until he let it go.”

Natividad said she put the money in her purse, then “kept hitting him and hitting him. I must have lost my mind.”

Burkes finally broke free and ran across the street, but his incensed victim was hot on his tail, and she caught and tackled him again.

She called 911 and told the dispatcher, “If you don’t come and get this guy I’m going to kill him.”