A woman is suing the NYPD after her humiliating, misguided arrest for shoplifting at a Queens Rite Aid. As 30-year-old Leah Fishman left the store a year ago, items in her purse that she had purchased weeks earlier for a total of around $20 set off the store's alarm. Fishman tells the Daily News that initially, "When the police came, I was relieved." But her suit alleges that the police did no investigation whatsoever, and mocked her as she was being detained. "Oh look, she has tears," a detective said, according to the lawsuit. "It won't help you; you're still going to jail."
"They didn't listen to a thing she said," Fishman's attorney, Jeffrey Rothman says. "It's as though they were a private company working for Rite Aid." Fishman says the police refused to listen to her explanations and arrested her anyway. "It was awful," she said. "It was really, really public and it lasted for hours." After three hours of being in custody, Fishman's roommate brought the receipt for the goods to the station and Fishman was released without charges.
"Police behavior was not only irresponsible, it was downright cruel," Rothman notes. Reflexive receipt-ditchers may want to think twice: "If it wasn't for that minor thing, me not throwing out the receipt, I would have been in Central Booking for the weekend."
