The Queens man accused of charging a tourist couple $400 for a round-trip on the (free) Staten Island Ferry filed a lawsuit against the city in Manhattan on Friday, the New York Post reports.

Kareem Vessup, an attorney representing Gregory Reddick, who was arrested in May, and Corey Lashley, the founder of SJQ Tours and Reddick’s employer, announced the lawsuit against the city “and no less than 11” members of the NYPD and city parks police at a press conference on Thursday, the Queens Chronicle reports. They claim that SJQ Tours and its employees have been illegally targeted by law enforcement.

According to the Chronicle, when Reddick was arrested, he was charged with second-degree obstructing government administration, resisting arrest, unlawful vending and disorderly conduct. He was not, however, charged with fraud, the New York Post reports, apparently because the tourists disappeared while police chased him down.

Vessup also said that Reddick and Lashley are also considering suing news organizations that published false reports regarding the accusation that Reddick had sold fake tickets at exorbitant prices.

Reddick and SJQ Tours claim that a 2012 court decision differentiating between those hawking “goods and services” (which requires a permit) and those hawking “entertainment” like sightseeing tours (which does not) protects Reddick from prosecution on the unlawful vending charge, the Post reports.

Lashley said that Reddick had been selling tickets for $28 boat rides around New York Harbor. “The charges against me are false,” Reddick said. “My rap sheet is real. But I’ve spent more than nine years turning my life around. I have a job. I pay taxes... It’s better than McDonald’s money. It’s better than Burger King money.”

Lashley, Reddick, and SJQ Tours have history with the police—in fact, Lashley said his business has been subject to “borderline harassment.”

“Parks has given us more than 150 tickets, summonses and citations worth $250 to $1,000,” he said. “And every time, they have been dismissed.”

Photo credit: Shutterstock. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.