A single mother in New York says a 2024 Christmas Eve arrest cost her the more than $3,500 in cash she had on hand — and that police gave the gifts she bought for her five children away.
Andrea Smith-Taylor was staying at a domestic violence shelter with her children when she went shopping on Dec. 24 two years ago. She had purchased clothing, boots, jewelry and a PlayStation, filling two large shopping bags with Christmas presents for her kids, who are now 5, 6, 11, 14 and 18.
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But before she could give her children their gifts, police arrested her and seized her cash and belongings, according to a new report by Gothamist. While her criminal case was subsequently dismissed and sealed, she says she never recovered what belonged to her and her family.
Months later, an officer reportedly told her lawyer that the police department had donated the gifts “out of the Christmas spirit,” according to a lawsuit filed against New York City, the NYPD property clerk and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch…