Leniece Bruney v. City of New York; Thomas P. Smith, individually; Stephen Lewis, individually; and Ahmed Abdulla, individually

District Court, E.D. New York·Decided August 11, 2026·No. 1:25-cv-01762·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK --------------------------------------------------------------- X : LENIECE BRUNEY, : Plaintiff, : MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER : – against – 25-CV-1762 (AMD) (CHK) : CITY OF NEW YORK; THOMAS P. SMITH, : individually; STEPHEN LEWIS, individually; and : AHMED ABDULLA, individually, : Defendants. : : --------------------------------------------------------------- X ANN M. DONNELLY, United States District Judge: The plaintiff brings this action against the City of New York, Deputy Inspector Thomas P. Smith, Officer Stephen Lewis, and Detective Ahmed Abdulla of the New York City Police Department, in their individual capacities, for alleged violations of the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. (ECF No 29.) Before the Court is the defendants’ motion to dismiss. (ECF No. 42.) As explained below, the Court grants the motion in part and denies it in part. BACKGROUND1 The plaintiff owns a 2020 Nissan Rogue. (ECF No. 29 ¶ 17.) At some point, she loaned the car to a friend. (Id. ¶ 19.)2 The driver of the car allegedly hit a pedestrian in Brooklyn, but 1 The facts are drawn from the complaint, documents and exhibits that the plaintiff includes with the complaint or incorporates into the complaint by reference, and documents that are integral to the complaint. See Chambers v. Time Warner, Inc., 282 F.3d 147, 153 (2d Cir. 2002). 2 The plaintiff does not say when the friend borrowed the car. left the scene before the police arrived. (ECF No. 45 at 7.) The friend returned the car on December 13, 2023, and parked it outside the plaintiff’s home. (ECF No. 29 ¶¶ 17, 20.) Two New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) officers seized the car the same day, and took it to the 71st Precinct. (Id. ¶ 18.) When the plaintiff tried to stop the officers, one of them told her

that she could not have her car “unless and until” she told them who borrowed it. (Id. ¶ 21.) One officer showed the plaintiff of a photograph of a man “in an attempt to have her identify an alleged suspect.” (Id.) The plaintiff did not identify the suspect, and the officers “effected the seizure and removed the vehicle.” (Id. ¶ 23.) The plaintiff claims that she does not know who was involved in the hit-and-run, and that the defendants are keeping her car to “extort” her into identifying the suspect. (Id. ¶ 25.) On January 3, 2024, Defendant Lewis applied for a warrant to search the car, and an order of seizure. (ECF No. 44-1.) 3 Lewis stated, among other things, that he was investigating a motor vehicle collision that “resulted in the serious physical injury” of the victim. (Id. ¶ 4.) He explained that the police found the victim “unresponsive in the roadway with severe head and

body trauma.” (Id. ¶ 6.) Lewis “reviewed video footage from the vicinity of the Collision Location,” which showed the plaintiff’s car strike the victim and leave the scene “immediately without reporting said collision to the police or emergency services.” (Id. ¶ 7.) Lewis also noted that the plaintiff’s car had damage that was “consistent with striking a pedestrian in that the subject vehicle had damage about the hood consistent with striking a pedestrian.” (Id. ¶ 14.) New York State Supreme Court Judge Donald Leo signed the warrant. (Id. at 5.) On February

3 As explained below, the Court considers the warrant application and the signed warrant because they are integral to the complaint. The warrant permitted the police to search the car for “Evidence of the crime of Leaving the Scene of an Accident Without Reporting Resulting in Serious Physical Injury,” including physical and forensic evidence. (ECF No. 44-1 ¶ 2.) 12, 2025, the plaintiff sent a letter to the King’s County District Attorney’s Office requesting the return of her car. (ECF No. 29 ¶ 26; ECF No. 29-1.) She alleges that she was afforded “no notice of any pre-seizure or post-seizure hearing.” (ECF No. 29 ¶ 32.) The plaintiff brought this action on March 17, 2025 and filed an amended complaint on

August 13, 2025. (ECF No. 1; ECF No. 29.) The plaintiff alleges that the defendants violated her Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment due process rights and her Fourth Amendment right to be free from unlawful seizure. (ECF No. 29 ¶¶ 2, 7.)4 The defendants move to dismiss the complaint. (ECF Nos. 42–44.) LEGAL STANDARD To survive a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). While “detailed factual allegations” are not required, “[a] pleading that offers ‘labels and conclusions’ or ‘a

formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.’” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). Pleadings are construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Hayden v. Paterson, 594 F.3d 150, 160 (2d Cir. 2010).

4 The plaintiff also states without explanation that her claims arise under the Eighth Amendment (ECF No. 29 ¶ 7), but does not describe any such violations or claim them in her prayer for relief. Accordingly, the Court does not construe the plaintiff’s claims as Eighth Amendment claims. DISCUSSION I. Constitutional Claims a. Procedural Due Process “The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that no state shall ‘deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.’” Mercedes-Benz

Fin. Servs. USA v. City of New York, 770 F. Supp. 3d 643, 656 (S.D.N.Y. 2025) (quoting Santander Consumer USA, Inc. v. City of Yonkers, No. 22-CV-8870, 2024 WL 4817649, at *8 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 18, 2024)). In evaluating a Section 1983 due process claim, a court must consider “(1) whether [the plaintiff] possessed a liberty or property interest and, if so, (2) what process [she] was due before he could be deprived of that interest.” Ciambriello v. Cnty. of Nassau, 292 F.3d 307, 313 (2d Cir. 2002). There is no dispute that the plaintiff has a property interest in the use and possession of her car. To determine what process was due, and whether the plaintiff was afforded it, the Court uses the three-part inquiry in Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319 (1976): (1) “the private interest that will be affected by the official action;” (2) “the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such

interest through the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards;” and (3) “the [g]overnment’s interest, including the function involved and the fiscal and administrative burdens that the additional or substitute procedural requirement would entail.” Mathews, 424 U.S. at 335. The Second Circuit addressed “the City’s continued retention of vehicles after their warrantless seizure by the police and prior to the ultimate resolution of the forfeiture action in court” in Krimstock v. Kelly, 306 F.3d 40, 48 (2d Cir. 2002), abrogated by Culley v. Marshall, 601 U.S. 377 (2024).5

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Leniece Bruney v. City of New York; Thomas P. Smith, individually; Stephen Lewis, individually; and Ahmed Abdulla, individually, (E.D.N.Y. 2026).

Leniece Bruney v. City of New York; Thomas P. Smith, individually; Stephen Lewis, individually; and Ahmed Abdulla, individually (Leniece Bruney v. City of New York; Thomas P. Smith, individually; Stephen Lewis, individually; and Ahmed Abdulla, individually) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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