A white Manhattan hospital worker accused of taking a Citi bike from a young black man allegedly “paid” for the two-wheeler, his attorney claims.
Lawyer Justin Marino, who represents the six-month-pregnant Bellevue Hospital worker in the now-viral video of the incident, claims she was pulling the bike away from the dock when the group pushed her away and began to film.
The hospital worker – wearing blue scrubs emblazoned with ‘NYC Health + Hospitals’ – could be seen screaming for help and accusing a black man of assault, even tearing herself apart as a crowd gathered around her. ‘them.
In the video, a friend of the man can be heard defending him, saying the woman – referred to as “Karen” after the video – was actually trying to rob him.
Marino vehemently denied the allegations on behalf of the hospital worker. in a report on his company’s website – even saying he has the receipts to prove it.
White Manhattan hospital worker accused of taking Citi bike from young black man ‘paid’ for two-wheeler, lawyer says
Justin Marino portrays the pregnant Bellevue Hospital worker who was filmed in a now-viral video that shows the incident in progress
According to Marino’s statement, the first receipt would show that the bike seen in the video was paid for and picked up before being locked a minute later.
The second receipt allegedly shows that another bike emerged a minute later from the same docking station – the bike that Marino said his client used to ride home after being ‘huckled and forced to find a new bike ” by the group.
Marino said his client was furloughed by NYC Health + Hospitals this week after the encounter was recorded – but added the interaction was “incomplete and lacking in facts”.
He claims his client had completed a 12-hour shift before getting on an available bike that “no one was on or touching”. He claims she paid for this through the Citi Bike app.
“One or more people in this group physically pushed her bike (with her on it) back into the docking station, causing it to re-lock,” Marino said in the written statement.
This moment is not featured in the viral video.
It was claimed that someone then covered up the bike’s QR code, preventing him from paying again, Marino said.
“By blocking the QR code, this individual’s arm was touching my pregnant client’s belly, a condition she had informed them of,” he added.
“Throughout this and for the rest of the video, about five people were telling her to get off the bike and heckling her.
“For someone to treat another person like this is tragic, especially a visibly pregnant woman.”
The New York lawyer went on to defend his client’s reputation by saying that “his whole life has been dedicated to helping others, regardless of their background”.
DailyMail.com has contacted Marino and Bellevue Hospital for comment.
At one point, the woman accuses the black man of assault saying he’s ‘hurting my unborn baby’, although the man says she put her belly on her hand
The woman could even be seen crying in the video as she jumped on the disputed bike
In the video, the unidentified Bellevue Hospital worker could be seen screaming for help
A roughly 90-second video of the incident was posted to TikTok and Twitter and shows an unidentified woman arguing with a man outside Bellevue Hospital in New York over the weekend near a Citi bike rack.
One of the man’s friends tells the woman he is recording the situation as the man has his hand on the bike.
The woman then cries out for help, saying, “Help! Help me! Help me please!’
But the man’s friend, off camera, says to him: “It’s not your bike.”
The hospital worker then shouts again for help and asks the man to “please come down”.
She then removes her hospital badge in an apparent effort to hide her identity, as one of the men could be heard asking her, “You know you won’t get that bike?”
The woman again screams for help and tries to get on the rental bike, before swiping the man’s phone.
‘Why are you taking his phone?’ one of the man’s friends asks the woman. ‘What’s wrong?
“Don’t touch his phone, don’t touch his phone,” he told the hospital worker.
She then tells the man that he is “harming my unborn baby”, to which the man replies, “You put your belly on my hand”.
The woman then turns around and starts screaming for help again, at which point one of her co-workers approaches.
The man tries to explain, “It’s my bike, it’s on my account” and tells the woman to “please move”.
At the time, the woman can be seen apparently crying – although the man’s friends say these are fake tears.
She then continues to climb on the bike, hysterical with tears, as her colleague suggests that they just “reset the bike”.
But the man’s friends continue to defend him, saying, “It’s up to him, it’s up to him.”
One of the friends then again accuses the woman of “pretending to cry”, telling her to stop, while the man asks her to “stop touching me”.
The woman then gets off the bike and apparently stops crying as she pulls out her phone.
“Not a tear fell, miss,” the friend says at the end of the video.
According to Citi Bike policies, anyone who keeps a bike outside for more than 45 minutes at a time will be charged $0.17 for each additional minute and may have their account suspended.
If a customer does not return a bike within 24 hours, the account holder will be charged a lost or stolen bike fee of $1,200 plus tax.
A roughly 90-second video of the incident was posted to TikTok and Twitter and shows an unidentified woman arguing with a man outside Bellevue Hospital in New York (pictured) over the weekend near a Citi bike rack
Bellevue Hospital has announced that it is investigating the incident involving its employee
A New York Police Department spokesperson said he had not received any 911 calls or reports of the incident, but was aware of the video.
Meanwhile, Bellevue Hospital said in a statement it was investigating the incident.
“We recently became aware of an incident that occurred off campus over the weekend that appears to involve one of our employees,” he said.
“We are sorry this has happened and we are reviewing the incident.”
The hospital added that it is “committed to providing the highest quality care to all New Yorkers with dignity, cultural sensitivity and compassion.”
The incident has been compared to Amy Cooper, nicknamed the “Central Park Karen”, who called the police on a black bird watcher in 2020 and lost her job.
Cooper – who accused a black bird watcher of threatening her in 2020 lost a lawsuit against her former employer for firing her after the September 2022 incident.
At the time, she claimed she was unlawfully fired and falsely portrayed as a racist by New York investment house Franklin Templeton following the May 25, 2020 incident.
The following day, May 26, 2020, Franklin Templeton said in a tweet — which was liked 277,000 times — that he conducted a legitimate investigation and “determined beyond dispute” that Cooper was racist and fired her.