Actor Alec Baldwin was led away in handcuffs yesterday after being arrested in New York City for riding the wrong way up Fifth Avenue. Baldwin, perhaps best known for his role in the hit TV show 30 Rock, subsequently launched a tirade on Twitter against the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the city, which he claimed is "anxious to criminalize behavior once thought benign."
According the New York Daily News, a police source said that after the 56-year-old was stopped by officers at around 10.15am yesterday morning and asked for identification, "He became belligerent, yelling and screaming at the officers, 'I don't have ID. Just give me the f*cking summonses.'"
Witness Michael Jones told the newspaper: “He was riding his bike in the wrong direction when some cops stopped him. They were walking him up the avenue. He looked like a tool.”
When he arrived at Manhattan’s 13th Precinct, where he was charged with disorderly conduct, Baldwin said: “How old are these officers? They don’t even know who I am.”
The New York Daily News says that the precinct’s commanding officer, Deputy Inspector David Ehrenberg, did however recognise Baldwin, but not from his TV or film appearances – according to an NYPD spokesman, it was due to his “previous run-ins with the law.”
Baldwin took to Twitter to vent his anger, saying: "Officer Moreno, badge number 23388, arrested me and handcuffed me for going the wrong way on Fifth Ave.
“Meanwhile, photographers outside my home ONCE AGAIN terrified my daughter and nearly hit her with a camera. The police did nothing.”
The actor went on: “New York City is a mismanaged carnival of stupidity that is desperate for revenue and anxious to criminalize behavior once thought benign.”
Several hours later, he added: “I asked both police officers today to ticket me. If they contend that I asked for special treatment, they are lying.
“If you don't have ID in NY when they write you a summons, they can take you in. Officer Moreno did not know me. Officer Weinstein did.
“Moreno shouted, "Let's do this the right way!" And handcuffed me.
“I told both officers I was happy to accept the summons and go. One officer seemed inclined toward that. Moreno did not.
“I think handcuffing some1 4 riding a bicycle in the wrong direction is ridiculous. Report of disorderly conduct is a distortion by Moreno.
“So, when a cop lies to protect themself, what do I plead in court on July 14th? Even if you are innocent, w witnesses, what do you do?
“My only point is that claims by Moreno of disorderly conduct are either a distortion or outright lie. Moreno lied in her report.”
He subsequently acknowledged that the officer’s surname is Montero, not Moreno.
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20 comments
I ride on the wrong side of the road.... Or the wrong way down one way streets all the time. I feel its a pretty normal thing to do.. And one of the benefits of riding a bike, as opposed to driving.
If its against the law... That's OK.. But I think in these situations police need to assess if the cyclist is really causing any trouble or creating any danger.
Really... Needing ID, handcuffs, what sort of a world are we living in.
Police could have told him just to be careful.
Eh? Cycling the wrong way up a one way street IS against the law.
As for the handcuffs, in USA thanks to the 2nd amendment the cops regularly end up having a handgun stuck up their nose as they go about their enquiries. Or even an assault rifle once in a while. Their stock response to a bit of lip is reaching for firearms and calling in backup, so Baldwin got off relatively lightly imo.
What they have police over there? Who actually stop and arrest people for braking the law? Incredible!
Shocking, disgusting, appalling, I mean what kind of weirdo wears a croupiers skip on a bike...
So it was a illegal arrest...he's done nothing wrong.
Im with Alec on this.
He was willing to accept he had committed an offence - it sounds like he took umbrage to the police officers being officious dicks and over reacting to a petty crime.
To be honest if i was arrested for not having an ID on me i think i would be pretty pissed off to.
If this had happened to someone who isnt famous (someone on a Critical mass demo for instance) i think the comments section would be different.
Baldwin has always struck me as a decent fella
+1
Although I don't think he covered himself in glory with his behaviour ending up in cuffs seems pretty over the top.
If by "decent fella" you mean racist homophobic dick with delusions of grandeur and entitlement, yeah, me too.
Not knowing the man i came to that conclusion based on information gleaned from news reports - and news reports, i admit, do have a habit of skewing the truth. One set of news reports could paint him as a 'racist homophobic dick with delusions of grandeur and entitlement' and another set of news reports could paint him as a decent fella.
Vive la difference
If by "difference" you mean the difference between Guardian and Daily Mail, yeah ... totally.
#bloodycyclists
The final nail in the coffin for those who think there's any chance of getting all 'cyclists' to behave well and not damage 'our' image. We have Alec Baldwin on 'our team', so clearly that plan is a non-starter.
Pauly Shore
He should have been arrested years ago for making Bio-Dome.
That would have been STEPHEN Baldwin...and Pauly Shore...
[[[[[ Who are all these Baldwins anyway? Just be thankful it wasn't the ghost of STANLEY Baldwin!
P.R.
So, he behaves like a prat, spouts factually inaccurate information and then asks us to believe he was entirely compliant and helpful to the officers who caught him in the act?
Yeah, OK, Alec.
"New York City is a mismanaged carnival of stupidity" - what a wonderful quote.
Good on officer Montero justice should be blind, as for "don't you know who I am" what a (fading) prima donna.
"Don't you know who I am?"