20 May 2009

Woman cuffed for not holding escalator handrail

Section A Front

Anyone who has ridden an escalator and bothered to pay attention has seen - and likely ignored - little signs suggesting riders hold the grimy handrail.

Bela Kosoian, a 38-year-old mother of two, says when she didn't hold the handrail Wednesday she was cuffed, dragged into a small holding cell and fined.

Ms. Kosoian says she didn't catch the officer's instruction to hold the rail when he first approached. When he told her again to hang on, she says she replied, "I don't have three hands." That's when the officer demanded identification so he could write her ticket, she said.

Ms. Kosoian started arguing. The officers handcuffed her and threw her into a small holding cell. The officers searched her bag and gave her a $100 ticket for failing to hold the banister and another $320 ticket for obstruction.

The handcuffs bruised Ms. Kosoian's wrists and an officer's boot scraped skin off the top of her foot.

Société de transport de Montréal regulations say "it is forbidden for all persons to disobey a directive or a pictogram posted by the Société." At the top of the escalator in the Montmorency station, a small sign indeed shows a stick man holding a railing with the words, "Hold the handrail."

Click to Enlarge Image - The Globe and Mail