This is the dramatic moment police allegedly mistakenly "pepper sprayed" and arrested a scooter rider - while he screamed "I can't breathe, please help me".

Montell Collins, 22, arrested on suspicion of theft of the scooter while riding home from work on the back of pal Cain's bike.

He claims men in an unmarked car pulled up next to them and "grabbed" them, so he sped off fearing he was being attacked.

But the trade apprentice said he jumped off the bike when he heard the sirens - only to be arrested.

Shockingly despite his pal pleading with police,Montell claims he "ran at me, pepper sprayed me, knocked me on the floor and was choking me".

Officers arrested him on suspicion of stealing his mate's moped - but let him go and drove him home when they realised their mistake, he claims.

Montell, a multitrade apprentice for a housing association from Stretford, Greater Manchester, said the has complained and his treatment is being investigated.

Montell said: “I think that with all the crime that’s going on they must have been told they need to be stricter on mopeds and if they see people, be a bit cautious.

“But I think it's discrimination. They saw two young lads on a moped and they assumed it was stolen.

“You can see in the video I’m clearly stood there. I wasn’t resisting, I didn’t try to hit them and his response was just unnecessary.

“At that present moment I actually thought I was going to die.”

Montell can be heard on the video screaming for help and telling the officer he couldn’t breathe and he said he believed the officer had mistaken him for a murderer.

He added: “They wonder why people have such a negative opinion about them and not just that, time after time they get away with it because they’re the police.

“They arrested me and put me in the van. I was going mad because of the pepper spray and my eyes were burning.

“They opened the van and explained they were going to take me home and never apologised. The officer tried to explain the they just had a job to do.”

The incident happened in Moss Side, Manchester, on June 8, and the police arrested Montell in Alexandra Park.

He said he jumped off the bike as soon as he heard the sirens and the driver stopped nearby, where the altercation was recorded by another friend Haych Bilal.

Montell said: “They tried grabbing me so my mate, Cain, panicked and drove off.

“So that’s when they put the sirens on and we realised it was the police.

“But at that point we were in the park. My mate’s driving and I got off.

“The officer was like, ‘get on your knees’ so, I took my helmet off and asked ‘what’s up?’ “Then he ran at me, pepper sprayed me, knocked me on the floor and was choking me.

“You can hear me on the video screaming for help saying i can’t breathe.”

The police arrested Montell on suspicion of stealing the moped.

“After they had done all the checks, they realised they were wrong because obviously the moped wasn’t stolen.

“They arrested me but they said to unarrest me that they had to take me back home,” Montell added.

Haych Bilal, who recorded the scene, added: “I was just in the park with my friends and I heard sirens and screaming for help.

“So I went over the officer was strangling him by the neck. I got my phone out and started to video.

“I just didn’t like the way he was treated by the officers because he didn’t do anything to run off or anything."

A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: "We can confirm we have received a complaint and the matter is currently being looked at by GMP’s Professional Standards Branch.

"It would inappropriate to comment any further at this time."