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Tourist Sues City For $1 Million After Getting Arrested In NYPD "Operation Lucky Bag" Sting
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 14, 2012
Modified Nov 14, 2012
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Poprugin Aleksey / Shutterstock
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 14, 2012
Modified Nov 14, 2012
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A tourist from Atlanta who was enjoying Central Park with his family in August of 2011 got swept up in the NYPD's controversial "Operation Lucky Bag" after he noticed an old, "smelly" purse abandoned by a bench. Yakov Dubin, 49, had stopped to tie his shoe when he spotted the handbag and peered inside, discovering a cool $27 and no identification. According to a $1 million lawsuit filed against the city, Dubin "removed the cash from the purse, with the intention to then find a park ranger or other officer, to which he could turn the money over." Unfortunately for him, the officers were already there.
Plainclothes cops immediately swooped in and arrested Dubin, who tried to explain that he'd just withdrawn $100 from an ATM and had no intention of keeping the $27. But we all know "listening to reason" is not in the NYPD's job description, and Dubin was escorted away from his crying daughter in handcuffs. "Don't worry,” one of the “Lucky Bag” cops allegedly told her. “We'll take your daddy to a good jail."
Dubin, a Russian immigrant who works in real estate, was booked at the local precinct and released, and had to return to New York months later to accept a disorderly conduct plea-bargain and pay a $120 fine. But he claims the arrest was textbook entrapment, and his lawsuit accuses the city and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly of false arrest, malicious prosecution and civil-rights violations.
In an interview with the Post, Dubin says the incident reminded him of when he was arrested in the former Soviet Union in the 1980s for protesting the government's refusal to let Jews emigrate to Israel and the U.S. "The only difference was in the Soviet Union they beat the crap out of me at the police station,” Dubin tells the tabloid. It's true; compared to the KGB, the NYPD is way more efficient—why wait until you get all the way back to the station when you can start the beating immediately?
Tagged
central park
lawsuits
nypd
operation lucky bag
tourism
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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