She did not have a ball at this game.
Comedian Elayne Boosler said she was arrested at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles Sunday for refusing to leave over a handbag that violated the stadium’s bag policy.
“I don’t know how your Sunday went but I bet you it was better than mine,” she said in a video clip posted on her YouTube channel.
“Here are my wrists after being handcuffed,” she said, holding her arms up to the camera to reveal bruised rings around her wrists.
Boosler, 71, was walking into the stadium for the Dodgers matchup against the New York Mets with her brand new baseball-shaped handbag when she was stopped by security.
She was told that she wouldn’t be allowed to bring the bag in because it was not see-through and that she would have to throw it in the trash or walk it back to her car.
But the Brooklyn native refused to leave because she “paid $50 to park a mile away, [it was] 80 degrees and the tickets were $300 in the secondary market.”
Boosler complained that there was nothing on her ticket that indicated the stadium’s clear bag policy. As a celebrity with close ties to the Dodgers over the years, she said she felt security should have just let her in.
“I’ve sung the anthem here five times, I’ve been in the booth 50 times, I’ve done everything extra for Dodger Stadium a comedian can do,” the comedian said.
“I’ve played in the Hollywood Stars game 10 times … just let me in with the bag.”
But security wouldn’t back down. Then, Boosler said it got “heated” with one particular security officer, who threatened to have her arrested for trespassing if she didn’t leave.
“I said, ‘Fine, arrest me,’” she claimed. Security obliged, cuffing her and putting her in the back of a squad car.
The team decided to press charges because of the one relentless security officer, she said.
The comedian, crowned the “First Lady of Stand-Up” by Rolling Stone in the 1980s, couldn’t help but crack a joke while she was cuffed to a bench at the Dodger Stadium office.
“They count all the cash in your purse and then you have to sign off on it,” she explained. “They said, ‘You have $371 cash in your purse’ and I said, ‘Well yes, we were planning on buying two hot dogs and a water.’”
The Dodgers declined to comment on the incident, KTLA reported.
Boosler’s video has more than 15,000 views since it was uploaded on Monday. Some people criticized her for expecting special treatment.
The Dodgers’ policy, which is similar to teams’ throughout the league, fans are not allowed to bring in bags, backpacks, beach bags, hard or soft coolers and large purses.
Only adult diaper bags, diaper bags that accompany infants and clear plastic bags smaller than 12″ x 12″ x 6″ are permitted. Non-clear wristlets and clutches no larger than 5″ x 8″ x 2″ are also allowed.
“For someone who’s been to the stadium as many times as you say you have. It’s a little odd you don’t know the clear bag policy that’s at almost every stadium now,” one person commented on Boosler’s video.
