Woman beaten and robbed while trying to bail son out of jail files suit
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A mother is speaking out about a violent robbery three years ago in which she was beaten while taking $30,000 in cash to bail her son out of jail.
Her lawsuit claims city workers conspired with the robbers to pull it off and watched as she was being beaten.
Linda Shapiro and her lawyer decided Monday was the day to go public with their story of a New York City coverup that allegedly started with an attack and robbery inside the Department of Correction bail room in Lower Manhattan.
She says the attackers arrived armed with a taser and left her with a broken bone, an injured back and many sleepless nights.
"They just jammed it into my rib on the right side, broke the rib and then slammed me against the wall," said Shapiro. "I hit the back of my head so hard I could hear it crack."
The 69-year-old was at 125 White Street to pay a $30,000 cash bail for her son. She believes someone tipped off the assailants who burst through the door, screaming.
They wrestled away her purse and took off. She says the city workers who witnessed the attack did nothing.
"You can see somebody being hurt, not even make a phone call to get help for over an hour," said Shapiro. "Nobody even called the police to get help for over an hour."
Shapiro's attorney has spent years trying to get security camera video that he watched with detectives investigating the case, video he says shows the attack.
Gerard Bilotto told us when city attorneys finally sent the footage, it was cut down from seven hours to 15 minutes.
"Not only that it doesn't even show the attack," said Bilotto. "It doesn't show the attack on my client in that bail office."
('What does that tell you?', we asked.) "The cover-up. It's a complete cover up," he said.
In a written response, city attorneys told us: "These allegations have not been substantiated. We'll know more about what actually happened in this case as we proceed with discovery. The city will be responding to the plaintiff's motion in the coming weeks."
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