The NYPD really IS getting carried away with stop and frisk.
After cops hauled a naked painted model away from her
exhibition in Times Square, she said they took her to a nearby police station
where she wasn't given back her clothes for about 15 minutes - and then she was
frisked.
"Yes, really," said Zoe West, 22, outside
manhattan federal court as she filed suit against the city and the arresting
officers.
The incident happened last August 30, when the petite
brunette was posing at the corner of Broadway and West 44th Street and stepped
out of her G-string for the final touches of artist Andy Golub’s full-body
paint job.
West's lawyer, Ron Kuby, said they'd been assured by the
city that West wouldn't be arrested because she was only baring all for an art
project, but three cops moved in to bust her. "Visibly unnerved by Ms.
West's removal of her panties, Sgt. [Anthony] Fusaro told Ms. he had to 'bring
her in,'" the suit says.
They cuffed the naked West, and used a tarp in their van not
to cover her up, but for her to sit on so she wouldn't get any paint on the
seat, Kuby said. She was then taken to the sergeant's desk in the lobby of the
Midtown South Precinct, where she stood clothed only in multi-color paints for
about 15 minutes, the suit says.
"I heard a lot of comments, like, 'Oh wow,' 'What's
this,' 'What the hell is this?''' West recounted.
She was finally handed her clothing and taken to a room to
dress, and when she was done, "a female officer searched her, patting her
down," the suit says.
The 5'3, 90 lb. beauty was then held in the juvenile delinquents'
room for about two hours before she was released without being charged. The
suit seeks unspecified damages for a false arrest that Kuby said was designed
to "chill artistic expression."
It apparently has - West said she's not planning on an
encore. "I'm really not looking forward to getting arrested a second
time," she said.
The city and the NYPD had no immediate comment.