SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A woman's quick thinking helped save a police officer from a near-death situation. The man, an El Cajon police officer, was brutally attacked on Monday. Police say the attacker was a shoplifter they've dealt with in the past.
Witnesses tell 10News if that woman, an MTS bus driver, wasn't there, things could have ended much worse.
Iesha Booker says she had just walked through the KFC doors to order her food when Daniel Moses Cook started attacking the officer. She says she didn't think she was going to make it out alive.
"I never meant to be a hero," she said. "I was just doing what I thought that anyone would do for us or for me."
Booker is shy to accept any credit for what she did on her lunch break Monday morning.
"Chairs and stuff were flying, tables were flying and people were running," she said. "I was trying to get out the way but also think what to do."
Iesha says the man beating the officer stopped and walked away, leaving the officer passed out on the floor.
"His face was swollen, I saw him try to get up for a second and then he just passed out," she said. "He wasn't moving at all."
Booker ran over, grabbed the officer's radio and called for an ambulance. She admits - she had no idea how to use it.
"I just grabbed it and just kept screaming that they have an officer down, they have an officer down," Booker said.
At that point, she comforted the officer, asking him if he was okay. She never got a response.
RELATED: Suspect accused of attempted murder of El Cajon Police officer has criminal history
Police haven't identified the officer. A source told 10News he has broken bones in his face and has already had two surgeries.
Booker says she decided to act because she wanted the officer to make it home at the end of his shift.
"I have family and we all have family and we just want to make it home to our family," she said.
Booker met with the El Cajon police chief this morning so he could thank her.
