The family members of the Black teenager involved in the Citi Bike incident with the white New York City Hospital physician assistant are speaking out to dispute the claims her lawyer made about her being the first one to purchase the bike.
The mother, sister, and Black teen involved all spoke out to News One to give their side of the story.
The sister made a TikTok video to give the timeline of what happened that day. In the video, she explained that her brother and his friends constantly use Citi Bikes because it is cheaper than riding the subway from borough to borough. Their mother confirmed the sister’s statement and added that they are an immigrant family from West Africa and don’t make much money.
“No one bothered to contact us to find out his story,” the mother said to News One during an interview on Wednesday. “They write all of these things about him, but no one bothered to ask him what happened or look at his receipts.”
The sister stated in the TikTok video that her brother purchased the bike at 5:53 p.m. on May 12 for his first trip, and it ended at 6:06 p.m. The second trip started shortly after at 6:08 p.m. and ended at 6:30 p.m.
The third trip started at 6:33 p.m. and ended at 7:19 p.m. She explained the reason her brother does this is because of their financial situation, and he is part of the Citi Bike program that allows him to ride at a reduced rate. The rate only lasts for 45 minutes per ride, and once he goes over the 45 minutes on a ride, then he would be charged their regular rate.
“My brother is an extreme Citi Bike rider,” the sister said to News One. “He is in a group called Citi Bike Angels that sends out free stuff to people who have accumulated a certain amount of points, and my brother has been a frequent Citi Bike rider since 2020 or 2021.”
According to the sister, the teen was approached by the physician assistant, who was identified by her as Sarah Jane Comrie, and she asked the group to use the bike that her brother was standing next to. The sister said that they politely declined because they were still using the bikes and there were also other unattended bikes she could’ve used.
The teen’s sister also stated that Comrie asked two of her brother’s friends before finally approaching him. He told her again in a polite manner that he was getting ready to use the bike again to return back to the Bronx because it was his only transportation.
The sister said that Comrie scanned the QR code on the bike her brother was standing next to and began her ride. Then, the incident that was recorded by one of his friends took place and went viral.
Comrie was shown in the video crying for help and telling the teenager he was “hurting her unborn child.”
“You’re hurting my fetus. You’re hurting my unborn child,” she yelled in the video.
She received backlash from social media and was repeatedly called a “Karen.” Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney, posted the video on his Twitter page as well as a message.
“A white woman was caught on camera attempting to STEAL a Citi Bike from a young Black man in NYC. She grossly tried to weaponize her tears to paint this man as a threat,” Crump wrote in the tweet. “This is EXACTLY the type of behavior that has endangered so many Black men in the past!”
On May 22, Comrie’s attorneys spoke on her behalf and claimed that she was the first person to the bike.
“The whole narrative that, like, she stole the bike is patently wrong,” attorney Justin Marino told CBS New York.
He continued, “Do you think any pregnant woman in their right mind would jump on another young man’s bike and, like, just scoot away while they are six months pregnant?”
The Bellevue Hospital, where Comrie worked, placed her on leave. The incident took place outside of the hospital, and she was still in her work uniform.
Marino produced a receipt showing Comrie’s ride starting at 7:24 p.m. and ending at 7:25 p.m.
A GoFundMe was started to help the family obtain a lawyer to fight against Comrie’s claims of being assaulted by the teen.
“I’m the person that’s appointed to be the representative for my family. My parents are immigrants. My mom doesn’t know what to do. She can’t handle any of this, so it’s up to me to figure out what to do,” said the sister to News One.
No complaint, criminal or civil, is known to have been filed against the still-unnamed teen as of this writing.
