Concert Pianist Sues NYPD Over Post-Opera Assault

Aviva Aranovich

A concert pianist who claims she was manhandled and unfairly arrested last year while attending a performance at The Metropolitan Opera is suing the NYPD over the "brutal police conduct" and "excessive force." Julliard graduate and opera lover Aviva Aranovich claims that Officer Fernando Grace forcibly removed her from The Met during the premiere of "Hamlet" over a misunderstanding with her ticket. "He grabbed her like you would grab a toy from your little brother and pulled her down the stairs. She fell down the stairs and hit her head - hard," said her lawyer Mark Marino.

Aranovich, who is a vice-president at Halstead Property, says she'd accidentally given her ticket to a friend and couldn't find her seat last March 16. After an usher tried to force her out of the standing room section, she went to Grace to complain/explain the situation. That's when she claims he thrashed her into the railing and arrested her, which began an 18-hour ordeal at the 24th Precinct. Aranovich was given a trespassing charge and brought to the the station house; there, she says she was repeatedly denied food and water, and was threatened by another cop, "If you ask again, I'm going to lose your papers and no one will know you're here." She also says that she was only returned $100 of the $600 she had on her that night.

By the end of the incident, Aranovich was bloodied, and suffered a concussion and an ankle injury from her confrontation with police. The trespassing charge was eventually dropped. Police say they investigated her claims, exonerated the officers, and suggest her injuries were self-inflicted: "She struggled with the officers, and contrary to her claims, injured her ankle in kicking out the rear passenger fly window," said police spokesman Paul Browne.

Her lawyer counters that their handling of the situation was misguided from the start: "It's not like she was crashing the opera. She went to Juilliard, she knew the people in the opera and this was a big night for her." He adds that Aranovich, who used to go once a week on average to The Met, hasn't been back since.

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By Ben Yakas in News on March 10, 2011 10:57 AM

Comments [rss]

blink667

When dealing with the NYPD, rule #1: Never argue with a 5 year old carrying a gun.

Guest

Typical of the abuse of people by the NYPD. I have a current case against an officer of the 70 Pct. for physical abuse too. The NYPD is full of under educated over steroided low lifes.
Remember: THE NYPD IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

EMTMK6Gti

she probably wouldnt have been arrested & therefore hurt if she followed instructions in the first place & just left instead of being combative with police. ' because they act on a rough up then lock up mentality' r u people seriously that ignorant these guys have better things to do than to get investigated by IAB & fill out mountains of paper work... so as a reminder to all you rebels out there leave when asked then file report against officers and establishment.

ganghiscon

Yeah, if anyone refuses to do what the cop says, that cop totally has the right to drag that person down the stairs and detain them for 18 hours with a concussion and no food or medical treatment. Fucking self-entitled elitist snobs!

EMTMK6Gti

she was dragged down the stairs as per the the lawyer... the MET has video cameras to prove her claim or go against her. as far as her concussion is concerned im curious if that diagnosis was presented by a Dr. who works with the lawyer.... and being denied food well if you knew what was served she most likely refused the food & if she had any medical conditions or injuries she wouldve never been arraigned.
everyone is so quick to blame the police for brutality but when these police brutality cases go the opposite side in favor of the city they rarely get reported that hey john or jane doe was wrong and were looking for a payday and failed...

TimeDown

When was the last criminal court arraignments you went to? There are often people there with injuries and medical conditions. Some of them as a result of police conduct and others not.

skipstopservice

Stellar powers of inference and assumption you've got there, kazubes. Concussions and ankle injuries for yuppies everywhere! Tenfold if they reside above midtown Manhattan!

Jan GoFoo

not surprised, NYPD is scraping the bottom of the barrel with their new recruits. Pretty soon your are only going to need some high school and shoot a gun to get in.

Guest

Isn't it like that now?

jaycjay

Just in case you're serious, no, it's not. There's a requirement of 60 college credits or two years of military experience.

Spirit of 76

60 credits is a pretty low requirement without knowing what kind of major and especially knowing how easy it is to get into some party schools or community colleges. Even then, they only require a GPA of 2.0. Not very high standards.

Guest

Like I said......

WetButt

Self entitled UES/UWS yuppies are worst people to deal with. I remember going to the philharmonic in central park some years ago and many of these people were so incredibly rude and self entitled. I really don't doubt that this woman threw a fuss like a complete savage, probably threw out a few "I pay your salary!"'s and other elitist insults to the staff and cop.
I don't need a ticket, I gave it to a friend! I went to JULIAAARRRDDD how dare you ask for my pass!

angry_pickle

"She went to Juilliard, she knew the people in the opera and this was a big night for her."

In other words, she feels entitled to free concerts for the rest of her life. She gave her tickets to a friend, uh huh. Maybe she gave the tickets to a client as a thank you but she still wanted to see the concert herself.

Spirit of 76

I believe the story said, "ticket," singular. Not tickets, plural. I don't go to the Met, but I would guess that they don't have a single ticket that would get you in for the rest of your life. Wouldn't they check the ticket before you're admitted then leave you with it afterward if there's a dispute with your seat, sort of like a ticket stub at a movie theater or concerts? It may be a high-class place, but I can't imagine people being allowed to waltz right in without presenting a ticket at the door. I would assume her ticket was scanned on entry then she and her friend parted ways with her friend taking both tickets.

Guest

It is the slop cops of the NYPD that are the worst to deal with. Liars, abusers and under trained. The NYPD is the country's worst department by far mostly because of Ray Kelly.

MermaidFornicator

except that the pigs dropped the charges. that's always a sign that they were wrong.

jaycjay

". that's always a sign that they were wrong."

Sometimes it's just a sign that the charge would be difficult to prove.

Spirit of 76

Surely it wouldn't be difficult to prove that she "kicked out the window" on a police cruiser. It's a little difficult to glue all that glass back together without a trace of damage. Why wasn't she charged with criminal vandalism for that or resisting arrest for "struggling" against an officer?

Something about the police version of the story doesn't add up.