Citibike bike sharing station, Manhattan, New York City. (Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The unidentified Bellevue Hospital employee in a viral bike tussle with a group of Black young men is on leave. Bellevue confirmed the provider’s leave in a statement on Tuesday (May 16). However, they didn’t clarify who initiated the leave, them or the visibly pregnant employee.
“We are aware of the video involving a health care provider off duty and away from the hospital campus. The incident in the video is disturbing,” the statement, released on Twitter, said. “The provider is currently out on leave and will remain on leave pending a review. As a health system, we are committed to providing an environment for our patients and staff that is free from discrimination of any kind.”
This is Bellevue’s second statement about the Citi Bike incident. In their initial May 14 response–after the video of their employee went viral–the hospital apologized and revealed they’re “reviewing the incident.” However, neither their first statement nor the second gave additional details on the review process. It’s unclear if the woman is receiving pay during this leave period.
Though the hospital has not confirmed her identity, folks on social media and NewsOne have outed her as Sarah Jane Comrie–an alleged internal medicine physician assistant.
The identities of the young Black males seen in the nearly two-minute-long video are also unknown. It’s unclear if the young males are over 18 or what happened before someone in the group started filming.
However, the viral clip shows the unidentified Bellevue provider aggressively trying to snatch a Citi Bike from a young Black male who claims he had reserved the bike.
She repeatedly yells for help, though she doesn’t appear in danger at any point in the video. In contrast, she lays her hands on the impacted Black male several times, including when she snatched his phone.
At one point, another Bellevue employee in scrubs intervenes, and the pregnant provider turns on the waterworks–all sounds, no tears. The employee who intervened tried to encourage the young male to give up his allegedly reserved bike. He refused, falling back on his alleged reservation.
Before the other medical employee stepped in, another young male beside the provider offered his bike during her “help” antics. She had seemingly refused, only to accept it when the Bellevue employee suggested it.
