NYPD sting operation target of suit

The NYPD practice of placing a bag of valuables in the open to catch would-be thieves is being challenged in a potential class-action suit.

Civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel filed a suit in Brooklyn federal court Monday to halt the police department's Operation Lucky Bag, which the complaint contends "entraps its victims, presumes their guilt and results in their unlawful arrest and detention."

Siegel is representing Spiridon Argyros, who was arrested and charged with petty larceny last May when he took a wallet sticking out of an unattended bag. Siegel said Argyros intended to return the wallet later.

The civil rights lawyer believes there are more like Argyros for a class-action suit, which must get approved by a judge.

"We believe many people each year are falsely arrested by this program and we believe that the program violates people's rights," Siegel said.

The city Law Department declined to comment until it has received the complaint.