Black teen sues over arrest after buying $350 designer belt

[Danno 1,228]

George Lucas, David Bowie, David Claessen, Melvin Leventhal, etc. Famous white dudes do it to.

I thought about that and wondered how that fit into the theory?

Any insight?

[Janelle2002 3,865]

I thought about that and wondered how that fit into the theory?

Any insight?

Each group is just doing what they wanted to do in the beginning and they have an excuse to do it now, fame.

[TBoneTX 45,289]

One offensive post and another quoting it have been removed. Thanks in advance for being more careful now.

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

Yeah.. it's true...Black men who marry Black women never succeed like a Black Man married to a White woman.

Wait! ... That's not a good example! .... Maybe the Black man married to a Black woman doesn't do as well (argument) holds water after all... Coz that guy is almost a complete failure.

Edited October 24, 2013 by Crashed~N2~Me

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Yeah.. it's true...Black men who marry Black women never succeed like a Black Man married to a White woman.

Wait! ... That's not a good example! .... Maybe the Black man married to a Black woman doesn't do as well (argument) holds water after all... Coz that guy is almost a complete failure.

I'm not sure if this counts, he is half white after all

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

I'm not sure if this counts, he is half white after all

I figured some1 would catch that.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

I figured some1 would catch that.

Obama is in the famous white guy category on this one. Sorry

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

My boss' credit cards were stolen by a white woman on a crosstown bus a few months ago. This woman went to town with those cards immediately, racking up $4000 in charges before my boss finished filling out the police report. Barneys was one of the stores she visited. They didn't ask her for ID when she paid for a $500 purse. None of the stores did. If they had, they would see that the card was stolen. I never get asked for ID when I go shopping in the city, either. Last my boss heard, the woman still hasn't been identified or caught yet. This kid, he shows the store his ID, the cops his ID, and they still keep him in the precinct for another hour on suspicion that it must have been faked or stolen. Gotta love the NYPD.

Edited October 24, 2013 by Sarah and Adnan

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

My boss' credit cards were stolen by a white woman on a crosstown bus a few months ago. This woman went to town with those cards immediately, racking up $4000 in charges before my boss finished filling out the police report. Barneys was one of the stores she visited. They didn't ask her for ID when she paid for a $500 purse. None of the stores did. If they had, they would see that the card was stolen. I never get asked for ID when I go shopping in the city, either. Last my boss heard, the woman still hasn't been identified or caught yet. This kid, he shows the store his ID, the cops his ID, and they still keep him in the precinct for another hour on suspicion that it must have been faked or stolen. Gotta love the NYPD.

There has to be something more that made them think this kid was committing fraud other than he was just a young black kid buying a stupidly expensive belt.

I was in ATL a bit back, and went in the LouisVuitton store just for kicks . There were several young black kids buying that ridiculously over priced #######. Seemed to be no problems.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

There has to be something more that made them think this kid was committing fraud other than he was just a young black kid buying a stupidly expensive belt.

I was in ATL a bit back, and went in the LouisVuitton store just for kicks . There were several young black kids buying that ridiculously over priced #######. Seemed to be no problems.

Although there is a poor population in ATL, ATL is a city that is thriving for black people. This is why you saw this because there are plenty of nicely paid blacks living in ATL.

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

There has to be something more that made them think this kid was committing fraud other than he was just a young black kid buying a stupidly expensive belt.

I was in ATL a bit back, and went in the LouisVuitton store just for kicks . There were several young black kids buying that ridiculously over priced #######. Seemed to be no problems.

There HAS to be something missing from this story because why? Because the NYPD are so stellar good at their jobs? Because he was black and buying clothes in an expensive New York store? I don't think you know the first thing about being black or latino in New York. This ####### happens all the time but you only hear about it when the victims of discrimination or false arrest feel like filing a lawsuit. I'll freely admit as a born and bred New Yorker that this city is one of the most hypocritical in the country when it comes to racism. Boston, where I have also lived, is a close second.

What these kids buy with their money is totally beside the point. People should be allowed to shop in stores they want to without being accused of a crime because they are a certain race.

Another black Barneys shopper accused of credit card fraud after buying $2,500 purse: claim Kayla Phillips, 21, says she was swarmed by four plainclothes cops after using her debit card to buy a $2,500 orange suede Céline bag. Her experience is eerily similar to that of Trayon Christian, 19, who filed a discrimination suit this week accusing Barneys and the NYPD of racial profiling. Comments (675) By Tina Moore AND Ginger Adams Otis / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Published: Wednesday, October 23, 2013, 10:47 PM Updated: Thursday, October 24, 2013, 6:02 AM

Aaron Showalter/New York Daily News

Kayla Phillips, 21, was stopped by police in February at the 59th St. and Lexington Ave. subway station after purchasing a Céline handbag from Barneys at 61st St. and Madison Ave.

Four plainclothes cops accused a black woman of credit card fraud after the Brooklyn mom bought a $2,500 designer bag from Barneys — stoking a fresh round of outrage against the high-end store.

Kayla Phillips, 21, a nursing student from Canarsie, told the Daily News she had long coveted the orange suede Céline bag. Armed with a cash infusion from a tax return, she took her Bank of America debit card and headed to the Madison Ave. flagship store on Feb. 28.

Phillips made the purchase without incident but says she was surrounded by cops just three blocks away, at the Lexington Ave. and 59th St. subway station.

“There were three men and a woman,” she recalled. “Two of them attacked me and pushed me against a wall, and the other two appeared in front of me, blocking the turnstile.”

The cops started peppering her with questions and demanding to see her ID.

Aaron Showalter/New York Daily News Phillips says the four cops blocked the turnstile and began to pepper her with questions about what she was doing in Manhattan and how she could afford the bag.

“They were very rough,” said Phillips, who has filed a $5 million notice of claim with the city of her intention to sue the NYPD. “They kept asking me what I bought and saying, ‘Show us your card.’ I didn’t know what was happening.”

RELATED: HAMILL: IT'S BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR BARNEYS TO RACIALLY PROFILE

Phillips’ attorney, Kareem Vessup, says an additional civil rights lawsuit against the NYPD and Barneys is pending.

The 5 p.m. confrontation was eerily similar to a clash between cops and 19-year-old Trayon Christian, who filed a discrimination suit this week accusing Barneys and the NYPD of racially profiling him. Christian, who is black, alleged he was followed into the street by undercover cops and accused of fraud after he used his debit card to buy a $349 Ferragamo belt at Barneys on April 29.

The young Queens man was cuffed and taken to the 19th Precinct stationhouse, but released with no charges, his discrimination suit said.

Phillips, a nursing student from Canarsie, Brooklyn, told the Daily News she had long coveted the orange suede Céline bag.

Both Christian and Phillips were amazed at how quickly they were swarmed by police. A Barneys exec told Phillips’ mother, Wendy Elie, that store employees didn’t call police on her.

Elie told The News a security guard told her the store has law enforcement on patrol inside the store — part of an NYPD fraud task force. A source confirmed that undercover cops are periodically inside the store because of repeated fraud complaints.

Police said there were 53 grand larceny complaints for credit card fraud at the Madison Ave. store and more than 47 arrests. A racial breakdown of the suspects wasn’t immediately available.

RELATED: BARNEYS’ BLACK MARK

NYPD officials wouldn’t say whether there was a dedicated task force working at Barneys or other luxury retailers.

Barneys via Facebook Barneys posted a reponse on Facebook.

Elie lashed out at Barneys, calling the store hypocritical for striking a business deal with Jay Z, the superstar black hip-hop artist, while targeting black shoppers.

“It’s not fair . . . the two individuals who have had these experiences listen to Jay Z and Beyoncé, who wear designer clothes. These kids also like nice things, and they were treated awfully,” Elie said.

Jay Z — in Oslo, Norway, on his Magna Carta tour — worked with major designers like Balenciaga to produce an exclusive limited edition line of clothes and jewelry for Barneys that will go on sale Nov. 20. The deluxe goods range from a Barneys cotton T-shirt for $70 to a Shawn Carter by Hublot watch with black alligator straps that will retail for an eye-popping $33,900.

A portion of Jay Z’s profits will go to a foundation he runs to give financial aid to students facing economic hardships — people like Phillips and Christian, who are both working their way through college. Calls and emails to Jay Z’s publicist were not returned Wednesday.

A Barneys spokesman said in a statement that the upscale store had carefully reviewed Christian’s incident.

Pearl Gabel/Pearl Gabel for New York Daily Trayon Christian, 19, filed a discrimination suit this week accusing Barneys and the NYPD of racially profiling him. Christian said he was followed by undercover cops and accused of fraud after buying a $349 Ferragamo belt at Barneys on April 29.

RELATED: BARNEYS ACCUSED ME OF STEALING BECAUSE I'M BLACK: TEEN

“It is clear that no employee of Barneys New York was involved in the pursuit of any action with the individual other than the sale . . . . We are very sorry that any customer of our store would have this experience,” the statement read.

That didn’t stop customers from panning the posh store on social media and vowing never to shop there again.

Patricia Gatling, who heads the city’s Human Rights Commission, said the allegations were outrageous for 2013.

“If true . . . (it) smacks of the same racism of the 1940s when my dad, a U.S. Army major who served in three wars as a pilot, tried to buy a car and was arrested because a black man should not have $5,000 in cash,” she said. “Had Mr. Christian come to the Commission on Human Rights, we would have vigorously prosecuted this case.”

The Barneys receipt for a Céline handbag purchased by Phillips. She used her Bank of America debit card for the luxury item.

Like Christian, Phillips used an ATM card to make her purchase. Including tax, the purse cost Phillips $2,504, according to a receipt obtained by The News.

“I had been looking for that purse in that color for a long time, and it was always out of stock,” said the young mom, who is pregnant with her second child.

RELATED: JAY Z, BARNEYS JOIN FORCES FOR HOLIDAY COLLECTION

Phillips was then working at Home Depot and had recently opened a bank account with Bank of America. She was using a temporary ATM card that didn’t have her name.

Her official ATM card had just arrived in the mail — and luckily she had it with her when the plainclothes cops nabbed her. The female detective, who was white, said Phillips, demanded to know where she lived and what she was doing in Manhattan.

Marcus Santos/New York Daily News A Barneys spokesman said in a statement that the upscale store had looked into Christian's incident, and that it was 'clear' that no Barneys employees were involved in any actions but the sale.

“They kept asking how I could afford this expensive bag and why had I paid for it with a card with no name on it,” said Phillips.

They also questioned her about the Chanel bag she was carrying, she said. She showed them a letter from Bank of America, saying she hadn’t activated her official card yet.

The detective took her card and started bending it, Phillips said.

“If you were a victim of identity theft, if someone was trying to use your hard-earned money, wouldn’t you want us to investigate?” she allegedly told Phillips, after the startled shopper asked why they stopped her.

Phillips, whose brother is an NYPD officer, knew enough to ask the detectives for their names and badges, she said.

With Erin Durkin

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/black-barneys-shopper-accused-buying-2g-purse-article-1.1494855#ixzz2ieQxBfvM

Edited October 24, 2013 by Sarah and Adnan

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

Obama is in the famous white guy category on this one. Sorry

No thanks. You can keep him. We already have a long list of historical losers to call our own.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

No thanks. You can keep him. We already have a long list of historical losers to call our own.

Sorry, he belongs to you as much as he belongs to us.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Sorry, he belongs to you as much as he belongs to us.

BURN!!!!!!

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Let's look at this logically and rationally. A black kid goes into Barney's, a white man's la te da store. He buys a belt for $350 and uses a debit card to pay for it. The clerk has to automatically think that card is stolen since there is no way in hell a black kid could possibly have a debit card, let alone with a bank balance big enough to cover the belt.

So one would naturally call the police assuming the card was stolen. If he had paid cash, it would also have been even more suspicious. No way a black kid could have that much cash on him unless he robbed someone, a liquor store, 7-11, etc. So the conscientious store clerk called the cops. And again, just doing their job, the cops have no choice but to bring the kid in for questioning. How could a black kid have a legitimate debit card? Why would he be shopping at a white man's store? This surely warrants a look see.

The store clerk and the cops should be commended for a job well done.

Oh, and if the kid was white, none of this would have happened.