New Reports Of Pedicab Crackdown Surface

Sarah Roberts, a 22-year-old college student, has a mark the size of a quarter on her right shoulder. She says she got it last week, when a Park Police officer came up to her pedicab, demanded to see identification, and she refused.

"And I was just trying to understand the situation and he put a handcuff on me and kind of like dragged me over to the hood of his car," she says.

A Park Police spokesman did not return a request for comment on Roberts' story.

Previously, the Park Police Department said it's conducting an education campaign this summer to remind pedicab drivers of the laws they have to follow. But several drivers say officers are needlessly pulling them over, and telling their customers not to pay.

Roberts says she was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting an officer, charges she calls ridiculous, since she says the officer was almost twice her size. The incident has made Roberts question whether it's safe to do her job.

"In the last few days when I've been out at work I've definitely preferred to not be by myself," she says.

Park Police also drew criticism earlier this week, when officers forcibly removed two journalists from a D.C. Taxi Commission meeting. D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray says he's looking into the incident.