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Allegedly Drunk Brooklyn ADA Arrested After Refusing To Pay Cabbie
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 22, 2012
Modified Dec 22, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 22, 2012
Modified Dec 22, 2012
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Ahh, assistant district attorneys—whether they're allegedly slapping EMTs or wearing blackface, they're always a barrel of laughs! And on Thursday night, a Brooklyn ADA joined that motley crew when he was arrested after refusing to pay his cabbie. And after cops were brought in to settle the dispute, Imran Ansari allegedly told them, “I’m a Brooklyn ADA and I outrank you."
Ansari was headed home to Long Island City around 10:20 p.m. on Thursday when taxi driver Mohammad Hossain stopped at 48th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard to let him out. He owed the driver $21.50 fare: “I’m not going to pay you,” Ansari allegedly told him. After cops arrived, Ansari admitted he had no money, and he was arrested and charged with theft of services, a class-A misdemeanor. He was also suspended from the Brooklyn DA’s Office, according to Jerry Schmetterer, chief spokesman for the Brooklyn DA.
“All he had to do was pay the 20 bucks. What a jerk,” a law-enforcement source told the Post. “The one thing you don’t do when you’re a DA is tell people you’re a DA! That’s when you get in trouble.”
Earlier this year, a (now former) Morgan Stanley banker was accused of stabbing a cabbie over a fare after a 40-mile trip to Connecticut. Those charges were later dropped, to that driver's frustration.
Tagged
ADA
arrest
assistant district attorney
brooklyn
cops
drunk
Imran Ansari
lawyer
police
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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