(AllHipHop News) “Swag” is very costly, especially when you factor in racial perceptions of wealth, stop-and-frisk mentalities and Juelz Santana. According to The New York Daily News cover story, 19 year old African American teen Trayon Christian was arrested by NYPD police officers after purchasing a $350 Ferragamo belt from Barney’s.
On the afternoon of the incident (April 29th), Christian told The New York Daily News that his paycheck from his work-study job at his school the New York City College of Technology had been deposited into his account. Christian later purchased the belt with his debit card with no complications.
Christian maintains that after purchasing the belt, police stopped the young man claiming that someone at Barney called the officers to report the debit card. Without much evidence other than alleged Barney’s accusations, the police officers arrested Christian and took him to the 19th Precinct, but not before the officers had their own interrogation:
The detectives were asking me, ‘How could you afford a belt like this? Where did you get this money from?’
According to the article, Christian had his eyes on the expensive belt for a while after seeing it on numerous celebrities, including one of his favorites, Juelz Santana.
Christian did not waste time with giving Barneys a taste of his mind:
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. It’s cruel. It’s racist.
The NYPD has already denied one of Trayon’s claims, that he was detained for two hours. NYPD spokeswoman Kim Royster claimed “Mr. Christian was held in police custody for approximately 42 minutes and as soon as we determined that the card was authentic, he was immediately released.”
Christian is suing the NYPD and Barneys for unspecified damages.
