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Jul 15, 2008 7:48 pm US/Central
Grandma Suing NYPD Over False Prostitution Bust
Monica Gonzalez Describes Harrowing Ordeal To local New York affiliate CBS 2 HD
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
A Brooklyn grandmother who never had a run-in with the law was shocked when police put her under arrest – for prostitution.
It happened just a block from her home. The case was eventually dismissed, but as local New York affiliate CBS 2 HD has learned she's now suing for wrongful arrest.
Monica Gonzalez said she was walking from her home around the corner, trying to get to the hospital for her asthma when police stopped her. She said she was then arrested for prostitution.
"They told me to put my hands up on the Jeep. I was scared and emotional, and now I'm crying," Monica Gonzalez said. "And I'm saying, 'This is wrong. What you're doing is wrong.'"
At the 72nd Precinct, Gonzalez said another officer saw her medical condition and called paramedics. They took her to Lutheran Hospital in cuffs, but Gonzalez said the shame of being in handcuffs in her neighborhood hospital was too much.
"All my children were born there. I'm familiar with everyone, a lot of the people there, and I was just humiliated. All those hours there in shackles and …," she said before breaking down.
Attorney Richard Cardinale, who is filing a lawsuit, says one of the arresting officers is Sean Spencer.
"He had a previous case in which he was sued for federal civil rights violations, and the city paid $10,000 in that case," Cardinale said.
Cardinale says that was also a false arrest case. Gonzalez did not want to show her face to local New York affiliate CBS 2 HD cameras because she says she and her family are being harassed. It's unclear what made police pick her up for prostitution in the first place. The charges were dropped a few months later.
Local New York affiliate CBS 2 HD requested a statement from the NYPD for two days. Finally, late Tuesday afternoon, the Police Department said it would have no comment.
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