A Staten Island woman has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of New York and several unidentified NYPD officers, alleging she was wrongfully arrested during a court-ordered custody exchange.
The lawsuit filed by plaintiff May Kattaria details an incident that occurred on February 24, 2024, outside the NYPD’s 121st Precinct, where she was waiting with her six-year-old daughter for a scheduled custody exchange with her ex-husband, Mohammed. When he arrived late with their two older children, a confrontation allegedly erupted. Kattaria claims the older children tried to forcibly take her daughter from her arms, prompting her to seek safety inside the precinct.
Inside, Kattaria asked officers for help. She was told that her ex-husband needed to come inside to collect the child, but he remained in his vehicle. After officers phoned him, he eventually entered the precinct and accused her of assaulting their daughter—a charge Kattaria denies. She alleges that despite the availability of surveillance footage that could have exonerated her, police arrested her without proper investigation.
The complaint asserts that officers failed to review critical video evidence or intervene despite the apparent custody-related motivations behind the accusation. Kattaria was arrested by an unnamed officer, identified in court documents as “Jane Doe,” and held based on what she contends were false claims. She accuses the officers of false arrest, supervisory liability, and failure to intervene.
Kattaria is suing under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of her Fourth Amendment rights, seeking compensatory and punitive damages. She argues that the arrest violated her civil liberties and reflects broader concerns about police misconduct in domestic disputes.
The plaintiff is represented by attorney Cyrus Joubin of the Handley Farah Anderson Law Firm. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York under Case No. 1:25-cv-02822-FB-TAM, and is presided over by Judge Frederic Block.