Federal Court dismisses false arrest suit

On July 9, 2019, Judge Denise Cote, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, dismissed a suit brought against Amtrak, which the firm defended, holding that the Amtrak Police had probable cause to arrest plaintiff and that he had not been injured.  In Williams v Amtrak, 18-cv-07070 (S.D.N.Y.) plaintiff was in the Men’s Room at Penn Station - New York when a teenager emerged and complained to the Amtrak Police that plaintiff had crawled under a stall and taken pictures of him with his cell phone camera.  Two Amtrak Police Officers escorted plaintiff to the Amtrak Police Command Center and placed him in a holding cell while they investigated the allegations.  The police obtained plaintiff’s consent to search his cell phone.  Although the police found pictures of other naked men on the cell phone, there were no pictures of the complainant.  After conferring with the District Attorney’s Office, the police released Williams without charging him.  He was in custody for approximately 75 minutes.  Plaintiff asserted claims for false arrest, excessive use of force, and violation of his constitutional rights, all of which were dismissed.  This LCBF team was headed by Ron Joseph.