A Brooklyn woman is suing the city and the NYPD for arresting her after she bought a bottle of Sprite from her local bodega. Catherine Cyrus also claims that cops tried to cover up the details of her bogus arrest by lying and claiming she had tried to assault them.
Cyrus, 24, says in her suit that she had bought a Sprite in February 2012 at a bodega in Bedford-Stuyvesant when cops surrounded her demanding to see her ID and what she bought. After showing them the soda, she was angry, and refused to leave the area when cops told her to. She was then arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration (she refused to let cops fingerprint her).
Cyrus spent five days in jail before being released. When the case went to trial, Judge ShawnDya Simpson criticized the arresting officers over the claim that Cyrus had tried to hit them, noting officers never charged Cyrus with assault. Simpson ultimately called the officer’s tale “totally incredible,” and dismissed the case.
