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MORRISANIA — A Bronx mom of two who called 911 to ask police to come talk to her young son about why stealing is bad was wrongfully arrested and told by an NYPD officer “you black b----es don’t know how to take care of your kids,” a new lawsuit charges.
Tyeesha Mobley, 29, is suing the city, the NYPD and the Administration for Children’s Services, claiming she was handcuffed, roughed up and had her two children taken away from her for four months — all because of an innocuous request to have officers teach her 9-year-old about right and wrong.
“She was simply trying to make sure her son stayed on the right path,” her lawyer, Philip Sporn, told DNAinfo New York. “This shouldn’t happen to anyone, let alone to a good mom with her kids.”
Mobley called 911 on April 16, 2014, after her 9-year-old, Tyleke, took $10 out of her purse, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in Bronx Supreme Court.
A dispatcher sent four officers, who met her, Tyleke, and her 4-year-old son, Keyshawn, at a gas station near their Morrisania apartment, the lawsuit says.
Initially, the interaction with officers was light-hearted, according to a transcript of Mobley's account during a October 2014 preliminary hearing with the city over her then-plans to sue the city.
“They started asking Tyleke what did he take,” Mobley said at the hearing. “He told them. And about three officers was joking around with him, telling him, 'You can’t be stealing, you’ll wind up going in the police car.'”
But a fourth officer wasn’t amused and chewed out Mobley for contacting them, the lawsuit says.
“You black b----es don’t know how to take care of your kids … you need to call the kids’ father, not us … we can’t raise your kids … why are you wasting our time, we aren’t here to raise your kid … why don’t you take your f---ing kid and leave?” the officer said, according to the lawsuit.
Mobley said at her preliminary hearing that when she tried to leave, the officer stopped her and told her he was arresting her. She also said that when she asked the officer why she was being arrested, he told her, “If you’re going to say another f---ing word, I’m going to knock your teeth down your throat.”
The officer then handcuffed her, threw her against a squad car and kicked her legs, she recalled.
“All I was saying is, ‘Please stop, you’re hurting me, my kids is there,’” she said.
She added that her children were crying, saying, “Stop, you’re hurting mommy.”
The officer’s actions even prompted a female colleague in a squad car to roll down her window and tell him, “We are not supposed to act like this,” the lawsuit says.
But the arresting officer responded to his female colleague by saying, “Black b----es like that … this is how I treat them,” according to the suit.
The lawsuit says that Mobley and her children were taken in separate cars to a police stationhouse.
While in custody, Mobley had to be taken to the hospital because of the bruising to her legs, according to the lawsuit.
She was ultimately charged with child endangerment. She spent months fighting the charge until a judge dismissed the case, her lawyer, Sporn, told DNAinfo New York.
Meanwhile, ACS placed Mobley’s children in foster care for four months. The lawsuit claims that the foster mom only spoke Spanish and, while the children were in her care, Keyshawn suffered a bad burn and Tyleke had several asthma attacks.
The NYPD declined to comment on the case, citing pending litigation. The city Law Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Sporn said his client should have never been arrested — especially since the police officers agreed to meet with Mobley and her kids.
“They agreed to come,” Sporn said. “It wasn’t like she hoodwinked anyone into coming.”
