Two stage actors say cops made their taxi ride with a racist, homophobic cabbie even more hellish by arresting them due to a bogus dispute over the fare.
Christina Sajous and Ethan Paulini charge in a suit filed in Manhattan Federal Court they hailed a cab on Sept. 11, 2014, at W. 13th St. and Seventh Ave. after attending an Off-Broadway show.
The two were bound for Harlem, but driver Gregory Adolph refused to take the West Side Highway, papers say.
When Sajous, 30, told the driver he had to follow the route they requested, documents show he said, I dont have to do anything for a n-----.
Paulini, shocked, said, What did you say?
Adolph allegedly replied: Now the f----t got something to say.
The furious passengers got out at 96th St. and Central Park West, paying Adolph $20 for a $19.50 fare.
But Adolph, 35, insisted they get back in the car and go to their destination because he wanted the full fare, according to papers.
He said he didnt want to pick up another passenger headed downtown from the filthy n----- neighborhood, the suit claims.
A new suit claims a ride with a racist cabbie got worse when cops arrested two passengers for failing to pay the fare.
Paulini, 34, and Sajous threatened to call the police, but they say Adolph didnt care.
Who would believe a n----- and a f----t? he allegedly said.
They opted to take the subway at the nearby 96th St. station. While they waited on a platform, four officers asked them to return to the street.
Adolph, who could not be reached for comment, told the cops they had skipped the fare, according to the suit.
So Paulini gave the cabbie another $20, saying, If this makes you go away, please take it, the suit says. Now I paid it twice.
He then reached into his pocket to present cops with a receipt showing he had indeed already paid the fare once.
Never put your hands in your pockets around a police officer, one of the cops allegedly barked.
Ethan Paulini and Christina Sajous claimed that a wrongful arrested topped a 'ride from hell' with a homophobic and racist cabbie.
Paulini tried to explain himself, but a cop said, Show it to the judge and pushed him into a police cruiser, documents claim.
Sajous, who had a role in the Broadway production of Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark, was also thrown in cuffs.
So (the driver) can insult us and we are the ones getting arrested? Sajous asked, the suit says. Yup, a cop replied.
Charges against both for resisting arrest and skipping the fare were tossed last year, said their lawyer, Douglas Grover.
This is really an egregious example of inappropriate police conduct, he said.
Paulini and Sajous seek damages to be determined at trial. Adolph, the city and the officers involved are named as defendants.
Adolph has a clean driving record, according to the Taxi & Limousine Commission, which has never received a complaint about him.
Well review the allegations and investigate the facts once we are served, a Law Department spokesman said.