DENVER -- She went to police for protection but officers arrested her instead.

Now, the city of Denver is owning up to the mistake, agreeing to a settlement that will cost taxpayers thousands of dollars.

Amy Shroff thought she had the law on her side when her ex-boyfriend violated a restraining order by blocking her exit from a Denver police station parking lot with his pickup.

Instead, Officer Frank Spellman arrested the Denver woman, incorrectly assuming the restraining order barred both Shroff and the ex-boyfriend from going near each other.

Shroff ended up spending a night in jail in 2006, despite pleading that her 3-month-old daughter needed breast milk because a medical condition prevented the baby from drinking formula, the lawsuit said.

At the Denver jail, deputies called her a "rich b****" demanding "special treatment," because she begged to be allowed to pump breast milk so relatives could feed the baby, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said that Shroff pleaded with Spellman, explaining that her daughter could become ill.

The officer replied: "She better start liking formula real quick," Shroff testified.

On Monday night, the Denver City Council approved a $175,000 payment to Shroff to settle her federal lawsuit against the city, the police officer and sheriff's officials who run the jail. Her daughter, who is named as co-defendant in the lawsuit, did become ill as a result of the false arrest, Shroff's attorney said.

"(Shroff) had the physical restraining order in her hands," Shroff's attorney, David Lane, said. "All Officer Spellman had to do is read, write, speak and understand the English language and he could see she's the protected party. (The boyfriend) is the restrained party."

Read Shroff's lawsuit complaint

Police officials have admitted that the officer had no justification to arrest Shroff, the lawsuit said.

"This is a reasonable settlement under the circumstances," Denver City Attorney David Fine said.

The lawsuit describes a nightmarish ordeal for the woman, that occurred on Feb. 23, 2006, when Spellman, then a 27-year officer, misread a restraining order that points out in the first line that the "Restrained Party" is Greg Kruse, the woman's ex-boyfriend.

"YOU ARE THE RESTRAINED PARTY," the order declares in capital letters to Kruse. The restraining order required him to stay 100 yards away from the "Protected Party" -- Shroff.

Shroff and her stepfather had driven to the District 3 Police Station to deliver her daughter for supervised visitation. The girl's paternal grandparents were supposed to pick up the baby so the baby could spend time with her biological father, court records state.

On the way to the exchange, Shroff spotted Kruse's pickup outside the Campus Lounge on University Boulevard at 10:55 a.m.

Shroff told police that Kruse's drinking problems had fueled his past abuse -- including choking her, throwing her against a wall, breaking her friend's wrist and her cat's hip, according to her sworn testimony.

So, Shroff stopped and took photographs of Kruse's pickup outside the bar to use as evidence in court as her attorney had advised.

Kruse caught her taking photos and called 911 to report his "ex-girlfriend has been stalking him," according to a record of the computer-dispatch message to Officer Spellman.

Kruse, however, acknowledged that "he is under RO (a restraining order) with female," the dispatch message noted.

At the police station, Shroff and her stepfather said Kruse blocked her car in the parking lot with his truck, despite the restraining order saying only Kruse's parents were allowed to appear at the station, the lawsuit said.

Shroff did what the order advised, if Kruse violated the order, and contacted law enforcement. But when she went into the station to tell police about the violation, Spellman said he was arresting her -- not Kruse -- for violating the order.

Shroff showed Spellman a copy of the order as she and her stepfather, Bill McAdam, repeatedly explained that it was not a "reciprocal" order barring both Shroff and Kruse from going near one another.

"Despite having the order in his hands, despite Shroff's and McAdam's entreaties to Spellman, he arrested Shroff and charged her with violating the restraining order and threatened to arrest McAdam if he did not 'shut up,'" the lawsuit said.

Read lawsuit testimony transcripts

After her arrest, Spellman did eventually allow Shroff to use a breast pump in a conference room at the station. But she was required to disrobe in front of a female police cadet overseeing the prisoner, the lawsuit said. An appeals court later equated this requirement to a strip search.

As Spellman delivered Shroff to the jail, she testified, "he told me that he didn't want to see me in trouble like this again and that I needed to clean up my act," the lawsuit said.

By the time she was allowed to pump breast milk again, 24 hours later, the infant was ill from drinking formula she was unable to digest, the lawsuit said.

Spellman did not respond to 7NEWS' requests for comment Monday.

The officer now works in the traffic operations bureau, police spokesman Detective John White said. White declined to discuss whether Spellman was disciplined over the Shroff case.

Jails in Denver, Boulder and Douglas counties allow breastfeeding -- but don't have a written policy about it. They all say they just use "common sense."

Of the $175,000 settlement, $94,238 will go to Shroff and $80,761 for her attorneys' fees.

Shroff's attorney said Denver keeps paying such monetary settlements because city leaders have failed to address problems with law enforcement hiring, training and accountability.

"The money is to wake people up," Lane said, comparing city leaders to parents who throw money at "juvenile delinquent" police and sheriff agencies.

"The real story here, the scandal here is that the Denver City Council are the befuddled parents of a juvenile delinquent, who keep writing check after check after check, but never do anything to change the behavior that's causing them to have to write check after check after check," Lane said.

Lane pointed out that his firm won a $4 million settlement from the city in 2008 for the estate of Emily Rice, a 24-year-old woman who died from internal injuries in city jail.

Rice, a drunken-driving suspect, was injured in a 2006 car accident, but jail officers dismissed her cries for help as the ranting of an intoxicated "drama queen," jail records showed.

Rice eventually bled to death.

Proper police enforcement of restraining orders is a life-or-death issue for battered women, said Rita Smith, head of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

"If something goes wrong, she's dead," Smith said.

Smith said reports of how Shroff was treated has made other abused women, who already worry that a piece of paper won't protect them, even more fearful of seeking restraining orders.

"If we don't take these seriously, we need to stop telling women to get them," Smith said.

She questioned what kind of training Denver officers receiving, noting that "restraining orders clearly state who the restrained party is."