PHOENIX -- A man whose wife died in police custody after causing a disturbance at the Phoenix airport told authorities, before learning of her death, that his wife was in a deep depression and suicidal.

The husband told emergency operators that Carol Ann Gotbaum's erratic behavior was a medical emergency and that police needed to understand they weren't encountering a simple disturbance, according to a police report released Thursday.

"They're not dealing with some lout who's just drank too much on an airplane," the report quoted Noah Gotbaum as saying.

"That's not what's going on here," he said.

Her husband was in New York when he called emergency operators to inquire about his wife and assure authorities that a family friend was on his way.

"My wife is at the airport and she is an a very, very fragile, mental state," police quoted him telling the operator.

Gotbaum, the 45-year-old stepdaughter-in-law of New York's public advocate, was arrested Sept. 28 for disorderly conduct after she was kept off a connecting flight that was to bring her to Tucson, where she was set to enter a treatment center to confront her alcoholism.

Police said she was shackled to a bench and left her alone in a holding room where she was later found unconscious and not breathing with the chain from the shackle pulled against the front of her neck. Authorities are investigating the death.

Tape Shows Scuffle During Arrest

A surveillance video released Thursday showed Gotbaum running through the airport terminal, bowing abruptly as she appeared to yell and resisting arrest as three police officers tried to control her.

WATCH: Police Narrate Airport Surveillance Video Of Gotbaum's Arrest

Gotbaum, who by this point had her hands cuffed behind her back, also can be seen locking her legs as officers held her by the arms and pushed the still-standing passenger through the terminal.

The more than three minutes of footage of Gotbaum didn't contain audio, and she was a considerable distance from the camera throughout most of the video.

After airport workers and police approached her, Gotbaum eventually backed away. Next, she was on the ground -- it was unclear how she got there -- and continued resisting officers after they put her back on her feet.

After realizing she missed her flight, Gotbaum used profanity and said, "I'm not a terrorist." Gotbaum, whose passport said she was British, expressed her dislike for American police, the police report said.

Authorities said Gotbaum, who was traveling alone, threw her PDA in the airport terminal, just missing a person, police said.

As officers tried to restrain Gotbaum, an airline work said Gotbaum yelled: "Give me grace."

Woman Had 'Sense Of Urgency'

Michael Manning, an attorney representing Gotbaum's family, said he was concerned that police didn't approach the emotionally distraught woman more gently.

"The reason she had the emotional meltdown she had was because she wanted to get to Tucson," Manning said.

"It was a commitment and dedication to the high-minded mission to get well that would lead her to break down in the airport," he said.

Manning said Gotbaum decided while she was sober that she could travel to the treatment center alone, and her husband agreed.

Manning and police said they suspected -- but don't know for sure -- that Gotbaum was under the influence of alcohol during the disturbance.

An autopsy conducted by authorities was inconclusive. Toxicology results will not be available for a few weeks. A second autopsy performed by a pathologist hired by the family also was conducted Tuesday. A report is expected in three weeks.

Manning said that he was trying to determine whether Gotbaum had consumed alcohol at the Phoenix airport or whether she had taken any medication.

Sgt. Andy Hill, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department, said officers tried to calm Gotbaum, didn't know she was headed to a treatment center and didn't believe she was a threat to herself.

Officers tried to resuscitate her and were saddened by the death, Hill said.

"The incident was unfortunate, tragic," Hill said.

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