Reason‘s Hit and Run blog is reporting that two New York City men are suing the city after police officers allegedly spotted them exiting a cab, ordered them to get on the ground and asked for them to hand over their White Castle hamburgers.
The complaint’s statement of facts reads:
18. Plaintiffs had just gotten out of a cab at the above-location. They were returning from White Castle Restaurant.
19. Several New York City Police Officers approached them. One of the officers asked for plaintiffs’ food. Plaintiffs refused the officer’s request.
20. The officers ordered plaintiffs to get on the ground, and asked them what they were doing.
21. Plaintiff explained that they were getting food.
The suit alleges the officers “struck plaintiff in the back with their knees and flashlights.” Both men, Danny Maisonet and Kenneth Glover, were arrested as part of a wider mass arrest that took place on Oct. 31, 2012, after Hurricane Sandy, when looting was rampant. It’s not clear if police thought the men looted White Castle, or were partaking in some delicious sliders after a red letter day of looting revelry.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees, charging unlawful stop and search, false arrest, denial of Constitutional right to a fair trial, malicious abuse of process, failure to intervene and unreasonable force. The officers say they arrested Maisonet and Glover for interfering with a pursuit.
The suit does not reveal whether the White Castle sliders were booked as evidence, consumed by police, or returned to the plaintiffs.
