Woman arrested after rescuing ailing cat
Published: 2013 September 27 10:57:06 (4813 Views)
A Long Island animal lover was arrested and forced to spend a night in jail after she snatched an ailing cat from an upper East Side bagel shop and took it to a clinic.
Nancy Glassman is unrepentant about coming to the aid of a cat named Costco. "I'm gonna get arrested if I do something?" she told the Daily News. "I'm gonna help. I can't see walking away."
Glassman's lawyer said the cops had no business arresting a 50-year-old retired optometrist with no prior police record for doing a good deed.
"The charges need to be dropped and an apology issued," attorney Peter Gleason said.
But police insist Glassman crossed a line when she barged into the back of Bagels & Co. on 76th St. and York Ave. and made off with a kitty that didn't belong to her.
Authorities charged Glassman with burglary — a felony — and she faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
"There's no pussyfooting around it," NYPD spokesman John McCarthy said. "You can't just walk into a store and walk out with someone else's cat — or any other property for that matter."
Glassman, of North Woodmere, L.I., said the cat-astrophe began Sunday when she came into the city to take a martial arts class and to look at an apartment.
She popped into the bagel store to use the bathroom and spotted a black-and-white cat with freakishly large ears.
"They looked five times too big," she said.
Glassman said she took a picture before a worker chased it to the back of a store with a broom.
"I asked him what's wrong with the cat," she recalled.
Glassman said the worker shrugged, pointed to a back exit, and said, "Take the cat." She fetched the feline and dropped it off at an animal clinic on 110th St.
Hours later, at around 9:30 p.m., two detectives from the NYPD's 19th Precinct rang her doorbell.
"I thought they were investigating the owner of the store," Glassman said. "I thought I did nothing wrong. . . . But I guess I'm an idiot."
Glassman said she agreed to come back with them to identify the cat. It all seemed perfectly routine until she was handcuffed and arrested at the precinct.
"So, if I see a child or an animal that's in distress, I'm supposed to just leave them there?" Glassman said she asked the cops. "And they said, 'Yup, you just leave it and call 911.' "
The worker who called the cops on Glassman was Youal Aroety, 53. The bagel shop was closed for a Jewish holiday on Thursday and Aroety couldn't be reached.
But there is a simple explanation why Aroety keeps a cat in the store — mice.
A city Health Department inspection of the shop last week found evidence of rodents and a spate of other violations.
The shop was not cited for having the cat inside, which is a sanitary violation, officials said.
Costco has been returned to its owner, officials said, but he might not be on mouse patrol for long.
Glassman said she was told the cat has a congenital deformity — and is likely to die soon.
- NYDN
Nancy Glassman is unrepentant about coming to the aid of a cat named Costco. "I'm gonna get arrested if I do something?" she told the Daily News. "I'm gonna help. I can't see walking away."
Glassman's lawyer said the cops had no business arresting a 50-year-old retired optometrist with no prior police record for doing a good deed.
"The charges need to be dropped and an apology issued," attorney Peter Gleason said.
But police insist Glassman crossed a line when she barged into the back of Bagels & Co. on 76th St. and York Ave. and made off with a kitty that didn't belong to her.
Authorities charged Glassman with burglary — a felony — and she faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
"There's no pussyfooting around it," NYPD spokesman John McCarthy said. "You can't just walk into a store and walk out with someone else's cat — or any other property for that matter."
Glassman, of North Woodmere, L.I., said the cat-astrophe began Sunday when she came into the city to take a martial arts class and to look at an apartment.
She popped into the bagel store to use the bathroom and spotted a black-and-white cat with freakishly large ears.
"They looked five times too big," she said.
Glassman said she took a picture before a worker chased it to the back of a store with a broom.
"I asked him what's wrong with the cat," she recalled.
Glassman said the worker shrugged, pointed to a back exit, and said, "Take the cat." She fetched the feline and dropped it off at an animal clinic on 110th St.
Hours later, at around 9:30 p.m., two detectives from the NYPD's 19th Precinct rang her doorbell.
"I thought they were investigating the owner of the store," Glassman said. "I thought I did nothing wrong. . . . But I guess I'm an idiot."
Glassman said she agreed to come back with them to identify the cat. It all seemed perfectly routine until she was handcuffed and arrested at the precinct.
"So, if I see a child or an animal that's in distress, I'm supposed to just leave them there?" Glassman said she asked the cops. "And they said, 'Yup, you just leave it and call 911.' "
The worker who called the cops on Glassman was Youal Aroety, 53. The bagel shop was closed for a Jewish holiday on Thursday and Aroety couldn't be reached.
But there is a simple explanation why Aroety keeps a cat in the store — mice.
A city Health Department inspection of the shop last week found evidence of rodents and a spate of other violations.
The shop was not cited for having the cat inside, which is a sanitary violation, officials said.
Costco has been returned to its owner, officials said, but he might not be on mouse patrol for long.
Glassman said she was told the cat has a congenital deformity — and is likely to die soon.
- NYDN
0
You May Like These Videos
WATCH: Victims Narrate Ordeal After Being Clobbered By Riot Cops
FLASHBACK: Morgan Tsvangirai Won't Resign Despite Illness 
Police Violently Beat Harare Protesters 
Zimbabwean Man Who Was Shot By Tswana Employer Appeals For HelpComments
There are no comments.
Get Zim Metro Updates Alerts
Big Reads
Schoolgirl drops out after continuous 'sexual abuse' by teacher
by Staff Reporter | 2019 August 13 07:42:33
Mugabe Knows Nothing About The Zimbabwe Constitution: MP
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 08:12:02
Zim's Protesting Graduates Risk Losing Degrees For Expressing Anger Against Mugabe
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:57:08
Troubled Harare Giants Dynamos Falls Into Another Deep Crisis
by Own Correspondent | 2016 October 01 07:49:17
Grace Mugabe Grovels At Mnangagwa, Says I Did Not Ask Ubaba To Fire You
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:31:48
Mugabe Attacks Mawarire, Claims The Exiled Pastor Failed To Divide Zimbabwe
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:19:13
Shock As Local Bank Denies 'Rich' Mugabe's Son Heifty Credit
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 30 19:14:54Trouble For Police Officers Who Have Been Mercilessly Bludgeoning Protesters
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:20:19
Mugabe "Home Coming" And "Thank You" Rally On Cards
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 23 06:48:24
Prof Moyo Was Dumped By Western Embassies, Claims Mutsvangwa
by Staff Reporter | 2016 September 22 10:08:07Broke RBZ Tracks Down Zimbabweans Living Outside The Country Over Taxi
by Staff Reporter | 2016 September 22 09:16:20
You Are Too Old To Lead, Aging Zim President Mugabe Told
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 22 07:19:25
Anti-Corruption Commission Loses Property In Failed Probe
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 20 03:18:19
.jpg)
SHOCKING:14 Year Old HIV-Positive Boy Rapes 7 Pupils
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 20 00:04:55
