BY JASMINE KRIPALANI AND MARIKA LYNCH

 A well-known Miami immigration attorney was arrested Tuesday while collecting
 bond money for other jailed protesters -- outraging two Miami commissioners who
 believed police used excessive force in restraining her.

 Attorney Grisel Ibarra's arrest, captured on video and played on a Miami cable
 station Telemiami, ignited even more criticism over the way Miami Police officers
 have handled crowds since Elian Gonzalez was taken from his relatives' Little
 Havana home Saturday. Commissioners Tomas Regalado and Joe Sanchez said
 Miami Police turned a peaceful protest at Telemiami, 2909 NW 7 St., into a melee.

 Instead of going to jail, Miami Fire & Rescue took Ibarra to Mercy Hospital,
 where she was treated for high blood pressure, her mother, Pura Garcia, said.
 As Ibarra left the hospital, she said:

 ''We're becoming a police state. This abuse has got to stop. They picked on a
 6-year-old the other day, but I'm telling you this, they picked on the wrong sp--
 today.''

 Later, on a Telemiami talk show, Ibarra wept as she recounted the arrest: ''What
 I want to know, what I hope somebody in this city can tell me, is why they were
 sent to arrest me.''

 Miami Police, however, contended Ibarra's arrest was justified because she was
 blocking traffic and ignored warnings to get out of the street. No excessive force
 was used, said Delrish Moss, Miami Police spokesman.

 ''Being an officer of the law, she should've known to follow the law,'' Moss said.
 ''I've had murderers who have come along simply when I told them they were
 under arrest, without any resistance. And here's an attorney that won't do the
 same thing.''

 COLLECTING MONEY

 Ibarra was collecting money from cars along Northwest 7th Street and 29th
 Avenue on Tuesday as part of an afternoon fund-raising drive to help release the
 76 people arrested in weekend demonstrations who have not made their bond.
 The drive was being broadcast simultaneously on Radio Unica (1210 AM) and
 Telemiami.

 Ibarra was in the street, collection box in hand, when Miami Police officer Jennifer
 Pastor, also a Cuban American, approached her with plastic handcuffs and
 grabbed the box and Ibarra's arm. Ibarra struggled and was pushed back into the
 crowd on the sidewalk where officers sprayed pepper spray.

 ''They told me it was my attitude,'' she said. ''I was treated like a criminal and I
 know, if they wanted to, they didn't have to do this to me.'' She lashed out at
 Pastor, saying, ''Why, why? . . . Why did she do this to me?''

 Ibarra was charged with disobeying the lawful order of a police officer and resisting
 arrest without violence. Miami Police said Ibarra was not hit with the pepper
 spray, though it was released near her, and that her own medical condition sent
 her to the hospital.

 ACTIONS DEBATED

 Regalado said the actions of Miami Police were uncalled for -- especially
 compared to those of Florida Highway Patrol Officers, who he said calmly kept
 traffic going along the street as Ibarra collected money for two hours. Then Miami
 Police showed up close to 5 p.m., closed off the block in front of the cable
 station, and created problems, Regalado said.

 ''It was the Miami Police who generated tension here. What happened here
 doesn't have any explanation,'' said Regalado, who was steps away from Ibarra.
 He immediately called City Manager Donald Warshaw to complain, and went live
 on Telemiami to denounce the actions.

 Herald Staff Writers Daniel Grech and Arles Carballo contributed to this report.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald