Reports: Woman Sues Over Arrest For Going Topless In Brooklyn Park
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A woman has reportedly sued the NYPD, claiming she was arrested for going topless in a Brooklyn park even though New York State law permits it.
Jessica Krigsman filed suit in Kings County Supreme Court, claiming that she was sitting on a bench with her breasts exposed in Calvert Vaux Park in Gravesend on July 12, 2012, when officers walked up and told her to put her shirt back on, according to reports in the New York Post and Daily News.
The lawsuit claimed that Krigsman "politely" told the officers that in 1992, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled in the case People v. Santorelli that women are legally permitted to be topless anywhere in New York State where the same right applies to a man, according to Courthouse News.
One of the officers allegedly told Krigsman to "stop mouthing off" and threatened to arrest her, the news service reported. Krigsman said she would not put her shirt on, prompting an officer to pull her shirt on over her head in a "very aggressive manner," the service reported.
The officers then arrested Krigsman, where she claimed she was held at a police precinct station for five hours before finally being issued a summons for obstructing a sitting area, the serice reported. The charges were dropped three months later, the service reported.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for civil rights violations, malicious prosecution, and assault and battery, the service reported.
A February memo ordered the NYPD not to arrest women for going topless, according to published reports.
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