... ''I walk up to him, and he immediately shuts the trunk, and he calls out, This is my car.' "

Sure it is. Colombo pulls out his radio and calls for backup. ''271 to control," he says, but before he can say anything else, the suspect lunges at him, knocking the radio from his hands.

... The taller, bulkier suspect is throwing roundhouse punches and jabs, his long hair flapping in his face. He is grabbing Colombo in places that few men like to be grabbed.

A pudgy guy in a blazer walks past the fight and keeps going. An MBTA bus drives past. The woman behind the camera is yelling for help into a phone.

What's most amazing is Colombo himself, the consummate professional even under attack. He can be heard on the tape constantly shouting, ''Stop resisting and get on the ground."

''If I was in a street fight as a kid, I would have done it differently," Colombo said. ''I would have been more violent. But as a cop, to make an arrest, we have to use the minimum amount of force required. We can't go over."

Colombo finally gets the exhausted suspect in a headlock. He tells some onlookers they could help if they want, and several men rush over and grab various limbs while Colombo places the guy in cuffs.

At the end of the tape, the restrained suspect, later identified as 40-year-old Ruben Delgado of Dorchester, is still kicking up a fuss, telling people he needs water. Colombo says to him: ''Negative, sir. Sit there and relax."