A high school student who claimed his Citibike was stolen by a pregnant hospital worker in a now-viral video says he rode the same bike out of the Bronx and redocked it briefly to avoid increased charges.
Speak against News, the teenager known only as Michael has said that due to increased fees after using CitiBike for more than 45 minutes, he docked his bike to reset the clock times and stood by the bike for his exchange with Sarah Comrie, 36.
The two were caught on video, which went viral arguing over ownership of a New York City Citibike.
Comrie’s attorney claims her receipts prove that she booked the bike at 7:24 p.m. and that she was physically pushed into the docking station to prevent her from taking it at 7:25 p.m.
Michael’s receipts do not dispute that she booked the bike. He had pulled up at the hospital dock at 7:19 p.m. and locked the bike for five minutes before Comrie appeared.
But he claims the fact that he was with the bike before he planned to book it again made it the “rightful owner” the moment Comrie booked it.
Sarah Comrie and Michael, pictured here struggling with bicycles, outside Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan
Because his family receives benefits, he gets a discount on Citi Bike rides, but after 45 minutes the rate on the bikes goes up.
To avoid the high charge, he regularly stops his rides and resets the clock by reconnecting the bike.
Speak against NewMichael said, “I use the bikes to get to and from school. When I travel anywhere in the city, even if it’s from here to Brooklyn, my first option is Citi Bike.
It’s my favorite means of transportation. It’s like my car. I can’t say that none of this affects me.’
At 5:53 p.m. on the day of the incident, May 12, Michael and four other teens were biking from the Bronx to Harlem and then to the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Receipts shared on Newsone show his journey from his native Bronx to Harlem and then from Harlem to the Lowest East Side, stopping outside the Bellevue.
Receipts also show he stopped at the hospital at 7:19 PM, and Comrie’s receipt showed she started using the bike at 7:24 PM, before docking it a minute later after their dispute.
At 7:25 p.m., Michael began using the bike, his receipt shows, and ended his trip at 7:31 p.m. when he put it back outside the hospital, leaving no one else to use it.
He insists they never left the bikes unattended and that four of his friends were on their bikes while they rested, but he was standing next to his.
Sarah Jane Comrie, 36, approached their group and after asking other members of his group, Michael asked if she could use the bike, which he declined.
Michael claims Comrie then scanned the QR code on the bike with his phone while his hands were on the handlebars, after asking him to “help a pregnant woman.”
After the altercation with Comrie, Michael finally checked the bike again at 7:59 PM and rode away from the hospital.
He later went back to the Bronx with his friends and finally stopped using the bike at 10:12 PM.
Michael claims he has seen a change in his attitude towards him since Comrie’s lawyer released her version of events.
‘In the beginning I felt supported. It was like going through this, people saw the video of it and they supported me. When those receipts were released, everything turned around.
“People started calling me a ‘thief’, a ‘thug’ and a ‘black man’.
At one point, Comrie accuses Michael of assault, saying he’s “hurting my unborn baby,” though the man says she put his hand on her stomach.
Comrie could even be seen crying in the video as she jumped onto the contested bike
The clip was widely shared on social media and shows Comrie feuding with the men outside Bellevue.
One of Michael’s friends tells Comrie that he is recording the situation while the man has his hand on the bicycle.
She then screams for help, saying, “Help! Help me! Please help me!’ But the man’s friend, off screen, tells her, “This isn’t your bike.”
The hospital worker then yells for help again, asking the man to “please get out.”
She then takes off her hospital badge in an apparent attempt to hide her identity, as one of the men could be heard asking her, “You know you’re not getting this bike?”
Comrie screams for help again and tries to get on the rental bike, before swiping the man’s phone.
“Why are you taking his phone?” one of the man’s friends asks her. ‘What is wrong with you? Don’t touch his phone, don’t touch his phone,” he tells the hospital worker.
Comrie then tells the man that he is “hurting my unborn baby,” to which the man replies, “Put your belly on my hand.”
The video showed Comrie screaming for help and warning the men that she was pregnant
Comrie’s receipt shows that the ride she just ordered
The documents show that the ride was eventually canceled and she was not charged, before booking a new bike minutes after the incident
A video of about 90 seconds of the incident was posted to TikTok and on Twitter, Comrie can be seen arguing with a man outside Bellevue Hospital in New York City (pictured)
The woman then turns and starts screaming for help again, whereupon one of her colleagues approaches.
The man tries to explain: ‘This is my bicycle, it is on my account’ and says to the woman: ‘Please go away’.
At that point, the woman can be seen seemingly crying – though Michael’s friends say they are fake tears.
She then continues to climb on the bike, hysterical with tears, as her colleague suggests they just “reset the bike.”
Michael’s friends continue to defend him throughout the conversation, saying, “It’s his, it’s his.”
One of the friends then again accuses the woman of “faking crying” and tells her to stop, while the man asks her not to “touch me again.”
Comrie then gets off the bike and apparently stops crying when she pulls out her phone. “Not a tear has fallen, ma’am,” the friend says at the end of the video.