Update: A GoFundMe page has identified Sarah Comrie as the pregnant Bellevue Hospital worker who was placed on leave after a confrontation with Black teens over a Citi Bike.
The GoFundMe account has raised nearly $5,000 for Comrie’s legal bills.
Viral video shows Comrie arguing with teenagers over a Citi Bike in Manhattan.
One teen said the Citi Bike was on his account and he paid for it. “This is not your bike,” he said, repeatedly.
But Comrie refused to get off the bike. “Help! Help me! Please help me,” she shouted to bystanders.
After the video went viral, Civil Rights attorney Ben Crump issued a statement.
“This is unacceptable! A white woman was caught on camera attempting to STEAL a Citi Bike from a young Black man in NYC,” he said. “She grossly tried to weaponize her tears to paint this man as a threat. This is EXACTLY the type of behavior that has endangered so many Black men in the past!”
NYC Health + Hospitals, which operates Bellevue Hospital, called the video “disturbing” and placed Comrie on leave Tuesday.
However, lawyer Justin Marino provided two receipts from May 12 which were timestamped just minutes apart. The receipts show the physician’s assistant paid for two Citi Bike’s – including the bike seen in the viral video.
The receipt shows a number that matches the number on the handlebar of the Citi Bike in the video. The receipt shows the bike was unlocked then locked a minute later.
The other receipt was for a second Citi Bike — the one Comrie rented to ride home.
Marino said his client was placed on leave by the hospital without examining any of the facts.
He said Comrie had finished a 12-hour shift before getting on an available bike which “no individuals were on or touching”. He claims she paid for the bike through her Citi Bike app.
Marino said the teens approached and pushed the bike back into the docking station – while she was still sitting on it.
“One or more individuals in that group physically pushed her bike (with her on it) back into the docking station, causing it to re-lock,” Marino said in a written statement.
He said one of the teens then covered the bike’s QR code stopping her from paying for it again.
“In blocking the QR code, this individual’s arm was touching my client’s pregnant stomach, a condition of which she had made them aware,” he added.
“The fact anyone would treat another person like this is tragic, especially a visibly pregnant woman. Throughout this time and for the remainder of the video, roughly five individuals were telling her to get off the bike and heckling her.”
The NYPD said no one called 911 and no police report has been filed.
A neighbor of Comrie’s said the entire incident is being blown out of proportion.
Watch the video below.
