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Subway Cricket Lady Facing Multiple Charges, Held On $5K Bail
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Sep 1, 2016
Modified Mar 26, 2018
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Sep 1, 2016
Modified Mar 26, 2018
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[UPDATE BELOW] Zaida Pugh, the woman who was arrested for unleashing a box of crickets and worms on a crowded D train last week as part of a viral stunt, is being held on $5K bail.
Pugh, 21, was arraigned at Brooklyn Criminal Court yesterday on charges of reckless endangerment, obstructing governmental administration, criminal nuisance, disorderly conduct and littering in the subway. Her attorney, Matthew Caldwell, says the bail set by Judge Andrew Borrok was inordinately high, and blamed it on the media in an interview with the NY Post.
"I think that if the media wasn’t involved, she would have been released on her own recognizance,” Caldwell said. "It’s just bizarre. I can’t help but think it is to do with how [the judge] is going to be portrayed in the media."
Pugh's husband, mother, and her two young children were present during her court appearance. Her accomplices, who "attacked" her on the train while she pretended to be a homeless woman hawking live bait, have yet to be charged, according to DNAinfo.
Update 3:30 p.m.: Lisa Schreibersdorf, Executive Director of Brooklyn Defender Services, provided Gothamist with the following statement:
While we cannot comment on any individual pending case, it’s disturbing that a DA would ask for, and a judge would set, bail on any person who was arrested on a low level misdemeanor with no criminal record. People who cannot post bail end up at Rikers Island, the horrors of which are well-documented.
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