The Collier County Sheriff's Office is crediting a passerby with helping a sheriff's deputy who was in trouble.
The deputy pulled 41-year-old Robert Dale Harris over on Palm Spring Boulevard Friday morning. Investigators say Harris tried to pull the deputy in his car and grab his taser.
Around that time a passerby drove up and asked if he could help. The deputy told him to call 911, and within minutes back-up arrived.
Harris was taken to the hospital, the deputy suffered minor injuries.
"If you swung at him, he wouldn't try to hit you back, he would just get out if the way," said Bo Harris, the suspect's brother.
He saw the incident happen right near his home.
"They wouldn't let me get within 50 feet of him, they said they would arrest me if I came up to him."
"Traffic stops have the potential to be one of the most dangerous situations an officer encounters," said Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk. "In this case, the bystander recognized that danger and alerted other deputies, I am grateful our community continues to show support for our law enforcement officers."
But Harris says the incident was retaliation for a complaint his brother filed against the department against two deputies if beating him.
"My brother is a big guy, but he's got a heart of gold, he's never hit nobody, he lets little kids push him around, he's got a heart bigger than gold."
Harris is charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence. Similar charges filed against him in 2014 were dropped.
