MTA Cops Threaten To Lock Commuter Up With Rapists: Suit

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A Penn Station commuter is suing the MTA and Long Island Railroad, claiming he was detained for hours in the Midtown transit hub and threatened to be jailed with "rapists and murderers" over a valid rail ticket.

Daniel Field was headed to work on the morning of Jan. 23 when he was stopped and searched by a group of eight MTA police officers after getting off of the train at Penn Station, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Southern District of New York. The officers demanded to see the man's train ticket, so he showed them the monthly LIRR pass he'd been buying for years through the LIRR "Mail&Ride" program.

Officers inspected the ticket "for a matter of seconds," claimed it was false and put Field in handcuffs, according to the lawsuit. Field claims he was then held in a holding cell within Penn Station and searched. When the commuter told officers that all of his information was on the valid ticket, they told him they were "looking into it."

After some time in detention, MTA police told Field that his ticket was a confirmed counterfeit and offered him a deal to confess in exchange for a simple desk appearance ticket. When Field insisted that his ticket was valid he was threatened with being sent to central booking "with 150 other guys, including rapists and murderers," according to the lawsuit.

Sometime around 11 a.m., about three hours after Field was handcuffed, an MTA police supervisor apologized to the commuter for the mistake and released him.

Field's federal lawsuit accuses the MTA, Long Island Rail Road and individual MTA Police officers of conducting an illegal search, false arrest and imprisonment, assault and battery, use of excessive force and a "malicious" abuse of process under New York State laws. The commuter is demanding damages in an amount to be determined by a jury and any other relief the court "deems just and proper," according to the lawsuit.

An MTA spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit, which is the agency's standard response to pending litigation.

See the full lawsuit below: