Posted on 10/23/2013 2:50:27 PM PDT by IbJensen
19-year-old college student from Queens says he was handcuffed and locked in a jail cell after buying a $350 designer belt at Barneys on New York's Madison Avenue because he is "a young black man."
Trayon Christian told NBC 4 New York on Wednesday that he saved up from a part-time job for weeks to buy a Salvatore Ferragamo belt at Barneys.
When he went to the store to buy it in April, he says the checkout clerk asked to see his identification. After the sale went through and he left the store, he was approached by police about a block away, and asked "how a young black man such as himself could afford to purchase such an expensive belt," according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
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Officers hauled Christian to the local precinct, where he showed police his identification, as well as his debit card and the receipt for the belt, the lawsuit says.
Police still believed Christian's identification was fake, and eventually called his bank, which verified it was his, according to the complaint. Christian, who has no prior arrests, was released.
He told NBC 4 New York that questions were racing through his mind while he went through the painful experience of being handcuffed and taken to a cell.
"Why me? I guess because I'm a young black man, and you know, people do a credit card scam so they probably thought that I was one of them," Christian said. "They probably think that black people don't have money like that."
He later returned the belt to Barneys because he says he "didn't want to have nothing to do with it."
He is suing the city and the luxury department store for unspecified damages as a result of "great physical and mental distress and humiliation."
Christian's attorney, Michael Palillo, told the Post, "His only crime was being a young black man."
Barneys said in a statement Wednesday that none of its employees was involved in any action with Christian other than the sale, and added that the store "has zero tolerance for any form of discrimination."
If a shop asked me for ID for a cash purchase they’d lose the sale.
I imagine when dems see something like this, they figure if he can afford a $350 belt, he can afford health insurance.
Was the cop named Zimmerman?
This was a royal screw-up.
Between the NYPD and Holder’s people it’s impossible to know whom to believe on this one. I’m quite sure there’s more to the story.
Wait — wait — wait....a college student buying a $350 belt working part time...uhm...I wonder if he’s getting a govt grant/load - made some type of excuse to have his college paid for...the only thing I paid $350 for when I was in college was my BOOKS!!!!!
times are changing or people’s priorities are...
I beg to differ, he has a job, he pays for things with his own money, and has valid ID. There’s no way he’s related to Obama.
0bama will jump on this one over a belt.
Murders by Trayvons, not so much.
The only time I have ever worn a whole outfit that cost $350 was either a dress military uniform or my flight gear. $350 for a belt?!
it is his right to waste his money as he sees fit.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the police confiscated it and all the money in his bank account because they thought it MIGHT have come from drug profits.
Just another day in the worker’s paradise/police state.
End the WOD, now.
Sounds like the kid has a legit grievance....
He had a receipt....case closed...
Brothas need to keep their pants up.
Hope he wins his suit.
A young black man using a belt, any belt, is an odd occurance.
“If a shop asked me for ID for a cash purchase they’d lose the sale.”
Oh yeah, just try going out and buying a new car for cash, like we did two weeks ago. You can’t, without going through a Federal “Red Flag” investigation that is basically running a credit check on you. You have to provide the dealer with your social security number and they have to refuse you the sale if you don’t. Another part of the Patriot Act. The dealer did say it cut down on Black guys in Ermine coats with bags of cash though! We were told “it was for our safety,” which didn’t make us feel one bit better.
When I was his age, I spent half my money on women and booze, and I just wasted the rest of it.
Anf now he has won he lawsuit lottery and will force Barney’s to write him a big check.
I’m a white female with no arrest record. Let’s say I go into an upscale department store and use my debit card to buy a $350 bag, for which I show my I.D. to the cashier during the transaction. A block from the store I’m stopped by two police officers who have the unmitigated gall to ask me how I could afford an expensive bag like that. The officers ask to see my I.D., my debit card, and my receipt for the bag, all of which I show them (though I have no idea why they’re entitled to this!). Then, the two officers handcuff me and take me to jail.
I promise you, if these circumstances occur to me, I will sue the police department and the department store too. I don’t know why the officers stopped this kid, or what truly set off this unreasonable chain of circumstances. Assuming it happened the way this kid says it did, I can understand him thinking that his skin color must be the explanation. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. At this point, neither you nor I know.
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