OWS protester from LI sues over arrest

A Long Island woman Monday became the first Occupy Wall Street protester to file a federal civil rights lawsuit, accusing the NYPD of arresting her without cause at a Citibank branch after she closed her account in protest.

Heather Carpenter of Port Jefferson, who works as a caregiver at a group home, said police arrested others protesting in the lobby of the bank's Greenwich Village branch on Oct. 15, but allowed her to leave because she was a customer who had closed her $520 account.

Then, when she began video recording the protest on her handheld device outside the bank, she was roughly dragged back inside and handcuffed, she alleged. Her fiance, Julio Jimenez-Artunduaga of Paterson, N.J., who had left the lobby earlier, was also arrested when he began objecting to her treatment, the suit said.

"It kind of shook me up," said Carpenter, 23, speaking to reporters outside federal court in Manhattan with her fiance and her lawyer, Ron Kuby.

The two were charged with trespassing at the branch and resisting arrest, and were held in police custody for more than 24 hours before being released.

The Manhattan district attorney's office Monday dismissed charges against Jimenez-Artunduaga. A prosecutor said in court that the district attorney and Citibank had decided not to proceed against him or Carpenter, whose next court date is in December, because the two were together and she was a customer who had transacted business.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne defended the police actions.

"Both individuals were observed early on disrupting business inside the bank, and then slipping outside as arrests were under way, claiming falsely they were not engaged in the disruption," he said. "While still inside the bank, they were told to leave by bank personnel and did not."

The Oct. 15 Occupy Wall Street protest urged customers to close their bank accounts to protest excessive fees and lending practices. The lawsuit accuses the police of violating the civil rights of Carpenter and Jimenez-Artunduaga by falsely arresting them and using excessive force. She accused the arresting officers of inappropriately touching her, and he said he suffered a cut finger and swollen leg.

They are seeking damages for physical pain, emotional trauma and humiliation.

The suit also names Chief of Department Joseph Esposito, who was the ranking officer on the scene. Kuby included a DVD of videos of the incident as part of the suit, and Browne said the NYPD had identified videos they say show Jimenez-Artunduaga misbehaving.

Carpenter and Jimenez-Artunduaga said they, like many, joined the Occupy Wall Street protests because of discouragement with the political system.

"After so many years," he said, "the politicians aren't doing anything."