An Orthodox Jewish law school student claims cops wrongfully cuffed him after he questioned their right to park in a bus zone to grab food – right after booting a civilian from the same spot, according to a Brooklyn federal lawsuit.
Tzvi Richt, 22, a first-year student at Cardozo School of Law, headed home to Kings Highway after finishing up his final exams last December when he noticed a pair of cops honking at a man to move his car from a bus zone, the suit states.
The driver was using a nearby Chase ATM machine and hustled back to move his car to avoid getting a ticket, according to court papers.
The aspiring lawyer said he was shocked to see the officers casually pull into the prohibited parking area that they had just cleared out.
The officers clambered out of their cruiser and headed over to a nearby food truck and began noshing, according to the suit.
His sense of injustice aflame, Richt summoned the courage to approach NYPD officers Graham Braithwaite and Jason Pinero and quizzed them about the apparent double standard.
“Plaintiff asked the officers whether they thought what they had done was right,” the suit states. “Kicking a civilian’s car out of a bus stop so that they could park there just to get food.”
Richt claims that he asked the question in a respectful manner and was not “yelling or shouting,” according to court papers.
Braithwaite tried to shoo Richt away – but he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“Plaintiff responded by asking whether he wasn’t allowed to ask a question of a police officer,” the suit states.
Braithwaite then demanded Richt’s identification – but the student asked if they had the right to make the request.
No longer able to tolerate the lip, Braithwaite immediately slapped handcuffs on Richt and tossed him into the back of the cruiser for a ride to the 61st Precinct, papers state
While Pinero lobbied his peeved partner to release Richt, Braithwaite resisted.
Richt claims that Braithwaite repeatedly asked him “who the f–k do you think you are” along with other curses during the ride, the suit states.
When Richt made more legal inquiries at the station, cops told him “it’s none of your f—— business,” according to the complaint.
After placing him in a cell for an hour and a half, Braithwaite slapped Richt with a pair of disorderly conduct citations – but the raps were eventually dropped after the officer failed to show up for a hearing, the suit states.
Richt is now concerned that the arrest will wreck his legal career before it even starts.
He “has reason to fear that the arrest may interfere with his ability to secure admission to the Bar when he graduates law school and to obtain employment as an attorney,” his complaint states.
The city law department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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