Left with bill and arrested after blind date exits mid-meal, woman sees most of civil suit dismissed
Arrested for theft after her blind date exited during dinner and left her with a restaurant bill of $127.86 three years ago, an Ohio woman sued both the restaurant and the city of Wooster after she won the criminal case.
But a federal judge last week dismissed most of the lawsuit brought by Melissa Bickel over the disastrous end to the 2012 meal. The ruling leaves in place only civil rights claims against the arresting officer, based on his alleged use of excessive force on the plaintiff.
Although Bickel claimed that she should have been held responsible for only a small fraction of the meal ordered by her date, the restaurant was under no legal obligation to provide separate checks, according to a Nov. 9 decision (PDF) in the Ohio case. The judge also found that the state’s criminal code established a basis for Bickel’s arrest.
The opinion says another police officer happened to know the man who exited the Broken Rocks Cafe and Bakery during his date with Bickel and talked to him at his home. The man went back to the restaurant and paid the entire bill the next day and was not arrested, the opinion recounts.
Eventually, Bickel was tried and acquitted of resisting arrest. Meanwhile, a theft charge against her had been dropped.
In her ruling last week in the civil case, U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan granted a summary judgment motion by the cafe and also nixed multiple claims against the city and another police officer.
But because Bickel weighed half as much as the arresting officer and was compliant in the arrest, assuming that the facts of her complaint are correct for the purpose of deciding a summary judgment motion, there is a cause of action concerning alleged excessive force, the judge ruled.
After Bickel refused repeated offers to allow her to pay $48.12, which the cafe claimed represented her fair share of the bill, she was arrested by police officer Matthew Simon, the opinion explains.
“Officer Simon then accused her of theft and applied handcuffs to her wrists,” the civil suit alleges. “Officer Simon also grabbed her arm and jerked her off a stool, which caused injury to her arm and shoulder. He squeezed plaintiff’s arm tightly and pushed her outside. Officer Simon held her by her upper arms and jerked her in sudden stop and start motions, which caused injury to her wrists. Once they were outside, the officer placed both his hands on her shoulders and spun plaintiff around in a violent jerking motion which caused pain to her neck and shoulders.”
It is not clear from the opinion whether only Simon or the officer and the city are potentially liable if Bickel prevails in the remaining portion of the case.
Hat tip: Cleveland.com
