By JULIA DAHL and LEONARDO BLAIR
April 18, 2008
A 74-year-old Holocaust survivor on her way to Rockland County to visit her family for Passover was arrested at a Florida airport for shoving a cop, authorities said yesterday.
But the 5-foot-1 granny said she was manhandled by police officers.
"They were pulling me and they were pushing me and before I knew it, I had cuffs on my hands," Elena Reichman said.
Reichman was at Palm Beach International Airport Wednesday, about to board a Kennedy Airport-bound flight, when she set off a metal detector.
When Reichman refused to have an agent "wand her, she began screaming," according to a police report.
The grandmother of nine told TSA agents a wad of cash secured with a safety pin inside her pants triggered the alarm.
"I told them I would have to take my pants halfway off to take out the pins," she said.
Reichman was then escorted to a room, where she shoved a cop brought in to calm her down, according to her arrest report.
But she claimed cops treated her roughly.
"I fell on my left knee, Reichman said. "I said, 'I can't walk so fast. I'm not so young like you.'"
Reichman was charged with battery on a law-enforcement officer.
"I send her a ticket to come for Passover and it turns into a bad movie," said her daughter, Mirona Mandel, who lives in New City.
Reichman said she was considering legal action.
Additional reporting by Clemente Lisi
