A woman is suing New York City for negligence after a police horse bit her finger in November.

Pernilla Ekberg, a Swedish-born marketing analyst, was on a night out with her boyfriend and friends in Manhattan last November when the group spotted an officer and a horse on the street, her lawyer, Eliot Bickoff said, Agence France Presse reported.

“A few people were petting the police horse. Pernilla approached the officer, asked permission if she could indeed touch the horse, and he said ‘yes,’ ” Mr. Bickoff said.

“The horse immediately chomped down on the right ring finger of her right hand, took a chunk off her finger tip and spat it on the floor,” he added, AFP reported.

Then the officer immediately rode off, without making a report or checking on Ms. Ekberg, the lawyer said. Her boyfriend put the fingertip on ice, but doctors were unable to save it.

The 28-year-old underwent partial amputation surgery at a hospital and “months of painful recover” and physical therapy, her lawyer added. She was left with permanent nerve damage.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday against the city and the police department at the New York Supreme Court, Mr. Bickoff said.

The suit accuses authorities of negligence on the part of their police officer and “the vicious propensities of the horse,” he added, AFP reported.

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