Fabb
September 6th, 2004, 09:25 PM
Those detained speak of 'Kafka-esque' troubles
BY LINDSAY FABER, GRAHAM RAYMAN AND KAREN FREIFELD
STAFF WRITERS
September 2, 2004
Elsa Bovakra's visit from France didn't go quite as planned. And now, she's worried she can't get back to her homeland after her backpack, which contains her passport, was taken by an police officer after she was arrested while watching a protest.
Bovakra, 25, was supposed to get a voucher for the backpack, but says she never did. And police now say they can't return it without the voucher.
"It's a Kafka-esque problem," says legal aid attorney Dave Kapner. "They themselves do not issue the paperwork to this woman, and now it's required."
Bovakra said she arrived from Paris four days ago, her first visit here since she was a child. "I was watching [the protesters], and they closed the street," she said. Then she was arrested and brought to the Tombs in Manhattan where she was held overnight. Late yesterday, the charges against her were adjourned in contemplation of dismissal. Now, though, she says she's stuck because her passport is missing.
Indeed, for those arrested in protest actions, yesterday was a day for complaining.
Chip Littlefield, 22, of Tewksbury, Mass., had just finished watching a puppet show depicting Donald Rumsfeld as the Cowardly Lion when he joined protesters marching from Union Square Tuesday night. He found himself on a side street, trapped by orange police netting.
Later, inside a detention facility in Chinatown, he said he shared a cell with a reporter from American Spectator, a conservative magazine, who also was arrested. "We were teasing him, saying, 'What do you think of the Patriot Act now?'" Littlefield said.
He said he wasn't released until 9:30 a.m., after 16 hours. He was issued a violation and told to return in two weeks.
Emilia Crotty, 23, of Astoria, was in Union Square about 9 p.m. Tuesday playing her trombone when she said police broke it. Crotty was held in custody in the Tombs until about noon yesterday. She was released with a desk appearance ticket for disorderly conduct. "Standing on the sidewalk is what I was doing," she said.
A spokesman said police are doing their "best to get everyone to court in an expedited manner," noting the average detainee spends "90 minutes at the pier."
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
BY LINDSAY FABER, GRAHAM RAYMAN AND KAREN FREIFELD
STAFF WRITERS
September 2, 2004
Elsa Bovakra's visit from France didn't go quite as planned. And now, she's worried she can't get back to her homeland after her backpack, which contains her passport, was taken by an police officer after she was arrested while watching a protest.
Bovakra, 25, was supposed to get a voucher for the backpack, but says she never did. And police now say they can't return it without the voucher.
"It's a Kafka-esque problem," says legal aid attorney Dave Kapner. "They themselves do not issue the paperwork to this woman, and now it's required."
Bovakra said she arrived from Paris four days ago, her first visit here since she was a child. "I was watching [the protesters], and they closed the street," she said. Then she was arrested and brought to the Tombs in Manhattan where she was held overnight. Late yesterday, the charges against her were adjourned in contemplation of dismissal. Now, though, she says she's stuck because her passport is missing.
Indeed, for those arrested in protest actions, yesterday was a day for complaining.
Chip Littlefield, 22, of Tewksbury, Mass., had just finished watching a puppet show depicting Donald Rumsfeld as the Cowardly Lion when he joined protesters marching from Union Square Tuesday night. He found himself on a side street, trapped by orange police netting.
Later, inside a detention facility in Chinatown, he said he shared a cell with a reporter from American Spectator, a conservative magazine, who also was arrested. "We were teasing him, saying, 'What do you think of the Patriot Act now?'" Littlefield said.
He said he wasn't released until 9:30 a.m., after 16 hours. He was issued a violation and told to return in two weeks.
Emilia Crotty, 23, of Astoria, was in Union Square about 9 p.m. Tuesday playing her trombone when she said police broke it. Crotty was held in custody in the Tombs until about noon yesterday. She was released with a desk appearance ticket for disorderly conduct. "Standing on the sidewalk is what I was doing," she said.
A spokesman said police are doing their "best to get everyone to court in an expedited manner," noting the average detainee spends "90 minutes at the pier."
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.