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Tipsy Lady Sues City After Cops Hospitalize Her Against Her Will
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 22, 2012
Modified Feb 22, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 22, 2012
Modified Feb 22, 2012
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A Staten Island woman says the NYPD wrongly forced her to go to the hospital while she was waiting for the ferry after a night of drinking in Manhattan. On December 8th last year, just before midnight, Chloe Sowers was sitting on the floor of the Lower Manhattan terminal drinking a coconut water and waiting for the boat to take her home. She was sitting on the floor because no seats were available, but this caught the eye of one Officer Kevin McKeon, who was so "concerned" about Sowers that she ended up handcuffed and taken to New York Downtown Hospital, where she was bound and drugged for the night against her will.
Sowers concedes that she was intoxicated, but according to the lawsuit she's filed against the city (below), she was "functioning and in control of her facilities." Officer McKeon, however, asked her if she needed medical attention. She said no, but when the ferry arrived he stopped her from boarding. Sowers alleges that the cop gave her the "choice" of going to the hospital voluntarily or forcibly. She declined to volunteer, and was handcuffed, forced onto a wheelchair, strapped to a gurney, and taken to the hospital.
Once there, Sowers says she demanded to be released, and when a hospital worker saw her trying to escape her restraints, she heard someone say, "Hey, it looks like we got a Houdini here!" She was then forced into a mini-straight jacket and involuntarily sedated! Which is probably not how she expected her night to end up when she was drinking vodka martinis at an Absolut event. In the morning, she woke up and escaped the hospital when she was permitted to use the bathroom. According to the lawsuit, the hospital "did not try to retrieve her, but it did send her a bill."
The court filing also points out that public drunkenness is not illegal in NYC (thank God!), and Sowers's attorney Gregory Antollino tells us, "Officer McKeon’s actions are typical of many members of the New York City Police Department who don’t understand the concept of probable cause and a person’s constitutional right to be left alone and secure from arbitrary stop and involuntary detention." Sowers is seeking unspecified damages from the city and New York Downtown Hospital. Below, check out the bruises she got from the restraints!
Bruises on Sowers's foot which she claims was caused by the restrains.
Tagged
chloe sowers
lawsuits
nypd
public drunkeness
staten island
staten island ferry
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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