19-year-old black male sues Barneys, NYPD after being accused of fraudulently purchasing designer belt

A 19-year-old black college student from NYC College of Technology, Trayon Christian, was arrested upon leaving Barneys after splurging on a $350 designer belt.

A store employee had Christian handcuffed after assuming he couldn’t afford the belt even though he had already purchased it. Christian went to Barney’s in April to buy the Salvatore Ferragamo belt after saving up his part time job paychecks.

According to the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, when he left the store, he was cuffed by undercover cops and asked “how a young black man such as himself could afford to purchase such an expensive belt,” the lawsuit states, The New York Post reports.

When Christian was at the register, he was asked for identification but after he walked out, she had the officers arrest him because she thought he bought it fraudulently. After he was arrested, he provided officers with the Chase debit card he bought it with and the receipt that had his name on it. After cops called the bank and they confirmed the purchase, he was let go.

“In spite of producing such documentation, Christian was told that his identification was false and that he could not afford to make such an expensive purchase,” said the lawsuit.

Michael Palillo, Christian’s attorney, says “His only crime was being a young black man.” Christian is suing both Barneys and the NYPD.

“I brought the belt back to Barneys a few days later and returned it. I got my money back, I’m not shopping there again,” he told Daily News. “It’s cruel. It’s racist.”

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