Woman Claims False Arrest After Foisting Screenplay On Lady Gaga

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A woman was falsely arrested, then handcuffed to a pole for hours after she approached Lady Gaga and handed her a script at Radio City Music Hall, according to a new lawsuit.

Midtown resident Melanie Scarola sued the NYPD this week for an incident last August in the Rockefeller Center venue, where Lady Gaga was set to perform two shows with Tony Bennett.

Scarola, 62, told the New York Post that she had written a screenplay about the opera singer Maria Callas and envisioned Gaga as her lead actress, after seeing her performance in "A Star is Born."

Around 3:15 p.m. last Aug. 2, Scarola "lawfully conversed with Lady Gaga and offered her script," which the singer accepted, according to the lawsuit. (Scarola told the Post that Gaga listened politely to her pitch before saying "Okay" to her offer.)

But when Scarola tried to enter an elevator and leave Radio City, a "tall plain clothed Caucasian man" stopped her and escorted her without explanation into a small room, where she was held for two hours, the suit says.

A security guard later entered the room and asked Scarola for her ID, then snapped a photo of her without permission, her suit says.

Hours later, several police officers arrived and arrested her without asking her for a statement, then brought her to a precinct where she was handcuffed to a pole for nearly three hours, she says.

Scarola was finally released with a desk appearance ticket, though Manhattan prosecutors ultimately dismissed her case weeks later amid inconsistencies in the arrest report prepared by police, according to her lawsuit.

Saying the ordeal took an emotional toll and cost her financially, Scarola is now seeking damages from the city. The NYPD declined to comment on pending litigation.

"A writer in New York City offering a script to a celebrity is not a crime," Scarola told the Post.