A white Manhattan hospital worker accused of stealing a Citi bike from a young black man is said to have “paid for” the bike, her attorney claims.
Attorney Justin Marino, who is representing the six-month-pregnant Bellevue Hospital worker in the now-viral video of the incident, claims she had just rolled the bike off the dock when the group pushed it back in and filming began.
The hospital worker, wearing a blue gown that read “NYC Health + Hospitals,” could be seen screaming for help and accusing a black man of assault, even bursting into tears as a crowd gathered around her.
In the video, a friend of the man can be heard defending him, claiming the woman – referred to as “Karen” after the video – actually tried to steal from him.
Marino has vehemently denied these allegations on behalf of the hospital worker in a statement on his company’s website – even saying he has the evidence to prove it.
A white hospital worker in Manhattan is accused of taking a Citi bike from a young black man who was “paid for” for the bike, her attorney claims
Justin Marino is representing the pregnant Bellevue Hospital worker who was filmed in a now viral video showing the incident
According to Marino’s testimony, the first receipt allegedly shows that the bike featured in the video was paid for and taken out, before being locked again a minute later.
The second receipt reportedly shows another bike was removed from the same docking station a minute later – the bike that Marino said his customer rode home on after he was “harassed and pressured by the group to buy a new one.” to find a bike.
Marino said his client was put on leave from NYC Health + Hospitals this week after the encounter was caught on tape – but added that the interaction was “incomplete and lacking in facts”.
He claims his client had completed a 12-hour shift before boarding an available bike with “no people sitting on it or touching it.” He claims she paid for it through the Citi Bike app.
“One or more people in that group physically pushed their bike (with her on it) back into the docking station, causing it to become locked again,” Marino said in the written statement.
This moment does not appear in the viral video.
It was alleged that a person then covered up the bike’s QR code to discourage them from paying for it again, Marino said.
“While blocking the QR code, this person’s arm touched my client’s pregnant belly, a condition she had alerted her to,” he added.
“During that time and for the remainder of the video, about five people asked her to get off her bike and harassed her.”
“The fact that anyone would treat another person like this is tragic, especially a visibly pregnant woman.”
The New York attorney then defended her client’s reputation, saying, “Her entire life has been dedicated to helping others, regardless of their background.”
has reached out to Marino and Bellevue Hospital for comment.
At one point, the woman accuses the black man of assault and says he would “hurt my unborn baby,” although the man says she placed his stomach on his hand
The video even showed the woman crying as she jumped onto the controversial 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 near a Citi bike rack outside New York’s Bellevue Hospital over the weekend.
One of the man’s friends tells the woman that he is recording the situation while the man has his hand on the bike.
The woman then screams for help and says, “Help!” Help me! Please help me!’
But the man’s friend tells her off-screen: “That’s not your bike.”
The hospital worker then yells for help again and begs the man to “please get off.”
She then takes off her hospital badge, apparently to hide her identity, when one of the men asked her, “You know you’re not getting that bike?”
The woman just screams for help one more time and tries to get on the rental bike before stealing the man’s phone.
“Why are you using his cell phone?” one of the man’s friends asks the woman. ‘What’s wrong with you?
“Don’t touch his phone, don’t touch his phone,” he tells the hospital worker.
She then tells the man that he is “hurting my unborn baby,” to which the man replies, “You put your belly on my hand.”
Then the woman turns around and starts screaming for help again, after which one of her colleagues approaches her.
The man tries to explain, “This is my bike, it’s on my account,” and tells the woman to “please move.”
At this point, the woman can apparently be seen crying – although the man’s friends say they are fake tears.
She then continues to climb onto the bike in hysterical tears when her colleague suggests that they simply “reset” the bike.
But the man’s friends continue to defend him, saying, “It’s his, it’s his.”
One of the friends then again accuses the woman of “faking crying” and tells her to stop while the man begs her to “stop touching me”.
The woman then gets off the bike and apparently stops crying as she pulls out her phone.
“There were no tears, miss,” says the girlfriend at the end of the video.
Per Citi Bike policy, anyone leaving their bike for more than 45 minutes at a time will be charged $0.17 for each additional minute and their account may be 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 near a Citi bike rack outside New York’s Bellevue Hospital (pictured) over the weekend
Bellevue Hospital has said it is investigating the incident with its staff
A New York City Police Department spokesman said they had received no 911 calls or reports of the incident but were aware of the video.
Meanwhile, Bellevue Hospital issued a statement saying it was investigating the incident.
“We recently became aware of an incident that occurred off campus over the weekend that appears to have involved one of our employees,” it said.
“We are sorry this happened and we are investigating the incident.”
The hospital added that it is “committed to providing the best possible care to all New Yorkers with dignity, cultural sensitivity and compassion.”
The incident has been compared to Amy Cooper, aka “Central Park Karen,” who called the police about a black bird watcher and lost her job in 2020.
Cooper – who accused a black bird watcher of threatening her in 2020, lost a lawsuit against her former employer for firing her after the incident in September 2022.
At the time, she claimed she was unlawfully fired from New York investment house Franklin Templeton after the May 25, 2020 incident and falsely portrayed as a racist.
The following day, May 26, 2020, Franklin Templeton said in a tweet — which garnered 277,000 likes — that they conducted a legitimate investigation and “undeniably found” that Cooper was racist and fired her.