Fire-Eating Burlesque Dancer Arrested for Topless Sunbathing Sues NYPD
A burlesque dancer from Brooklyn filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the NYPD for arresting her last summer as she sunbathed topless in a park.
In July 2012, a topless Jessica Krigsman was sitting in Brooklyn's Calverty Vaux Park when two NYPD officers, a male and a female, approached her and told her to put on a shirt.
“She was minding her own business, sunbathing, and they approached her aggressively,” said Krigsman’s lawyer, Stuart Jacobs, told the New York Post. “They asked for ID and told her to put on her shirt.”
Citing People v. Santorelli, a 1992 state Court of Appeals decision that ruled a woman is allowed to be topless anywhere a man can be shirtless, Krigsman refused, reportedly telling the cops to “call [their] supervisor.”
The cops then allegedly told her to “stop mouthing off” and physically forced her to put on the shirt. Krigsman, who says she didn't resist, was arrested – with pink handcuffs, no less — and held for five hours before being charged with “obstruction of a sitting area.” The charge was dropped three months later.
Krigsman has at least one theory why she was arrested. “The female cops hate to see topless women,” she said. “The guys are always cool with it.” Cool with it or not, NYPD officers were reminded in a memo earlier this year not to arrest topless women.
Krigsman's suit seeks unspecified damages plus attorney costs. Below is a video of Krigsman peforming (and eating fire), if you're into that kind of thing.