Judge Refuses To Grand Cops Immunity Claiming They should Have Used Common Sense

Rodis promptly filed a $250,000 claim against the city, former Police Chief Alex Fagan Sr., and two officers at the scene alleging false arrest, excessive force, and the negligent infliction of emotional stress, among other things. He later offered to settle the suit for $15,000, but the City Attorney's Office refused to accept the deal.

Five years and innumerable legal bills later, the case just keeps getting worse for the city -- even before it lands in front of a jury to determine if indeed the police should compensate Rodis.
"Part of my mind was saying ... 'I'm not going to argue. I'm not going to resist,'" Rodis said of the arrest. "I put my hands behind my back but I'm thinking 'This has got to be a mistake. Somebody here has to have some sense.'"

Rodis was suffering from minor allergy symptoms on Feb. 17, 2003, when he headed to a Walgreens on Ocean Avenue he'd been going to for 20 years. It was located near his Ingleside home and a law office he's had in the neighborhood since 1992.

He picked up some cough syrup, Claritin, toothpaste, and a few other things. The total came to $42 and change, so he tried to pay with a $100 bill.

"I just happened to have it in my wallet," Rodis said.

The drugstore clerk used a counterfeit detection pen to be sure the bill was legit. It was, according to the marking, but the bill was printed in the 1980s before watermarks and magnetic strips were used to help stop counterfeiting.

The young clerk was unfamiliar with the bill's design and called a manager to be sure. He too used a counterfeit pen to confirm that it was real. But the manager told Rodis he was still going to call the police, fearing it was fake. That's when things turned surreal. Two officers showed up and almost immediately placed Rodis in handcuffs before trying to ascertain if he'd actually attempted to defraud Walgreens.

"They made no effort to determine what the situation was ... they just assumed," Rodis said. "When she said 'Put your hands behind your back,' I thought I was in some Twilight Zone episode."