Michael said after resting in Harlem for a bit, the boys continued riding into the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They grabbed frozen yogurt and then headed to the Citi Bike docking station at 1st Avenue and E 30th Street near Bellevue Hospital in the Kip’s Bay neighborhood. They docked their bikes at 7:19 p.m. and sat there to rest.
Michael insisted he and his friends never left the bikes unattended. They don’t leave the bikes. Michael said all four of his friends also have the same Citi Bike Reduced Fare membership, so they docked the bikes to stop the timers from going over 45 minutes.
Four of the boys were sitting on their bikes as they rested, but Michael was standing next to his with his hands on the handlebars.
They were there for a few minutes when he said Sarah Jane Comrie approached their group. She initially asked one of Michael’s friends if she could take the bike he was resting on. He politely declined, informing her that they were going to be leaving shortly and using the bikes again.
She next approached a different boy in the group and asked him the same thing. That boy also politely declined.
Michael was still standing near his bike with his hands on the handlebars.
According to Michael, Sarah Jane Comrie asked him, “Can I please have this bike?”
Michael said he declined.
“No, I’m about to take it back out,” he told her.
Michael said Sarah Jane Comrie then said to him, “I’m pregnant. Can you help a pregnant woman out?”
Michael said he then told her, “I’m sorry ma’am. I’ve ridden this bike all the way from the Bronx, and I need this bike to go back home.”
Michael says that is when Sarah Jane Comrie moved closer to him and his bike, leaned over him, and scanned the QR code with her phone even as he had his hands on the handlebars.
She then pushed her way onto the bike and attempted to remove it from the docking station and take it.
It was 7:24 p.m., and that is when the boys began recording.
You can hear them in the video calling for someone to record Sarah Jane Comrie at the beginning of the footage.
“You know if someone is using something,” Mary interjected emphatically. “There are obvious physical cues to let you know when something is in use or someone is planning to use something.”
Michael insisted Sarah Jane Comrie knew he was planning to use the bike. He said she asked him and his friends to use theirs, and they all informed her they were using the bikes and would be leaving shortly.
He said she seemed annoyed that they wouldn’t willingly give up their bikes to her. He also said he believes she wanted that bike as opposed to the others that remained docked in the rack because he had one of the newer e-bikes.
The rest of the interaction plays out in the video. Sarah Jane Comrie, dressed in scrubs bearing the NYC Health + Hospitals logo, removed her work ID badge from her neck, placed it in her bag along with a brown paper bag she was holding and began screaming for help.
The boys can be heard repeatedly telling her it’s not her bike. During the filmed part of the interaction, Michael was able to successfully push the bike back into the dock. He said he then entered the bike’s number into his phone to put the reservation back on his account.
Michael said when Sarah Jane Comrie noticed him doing this, she snatched his phone out of his hand, which is shown in the video.
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