Sunny Hostin invoked ‘View’ status, prosecutor past on bodycam after son’s trespassing stop

“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin repeatedly invoked her television career and her past as a federal prosecutor while trying to talk police out of citing her son for trespassing on active Metro-North Railroad tracks, according to newly released body camera footage.

The footage, obtained by the New York Post, shows Ms. Hostin using her position as a former federal prosecutor and her son’s background as a Harvard graduate and elementary teacher to try to get the charge dropped. Gabriel Hostin, 24, was stopped by Metropolitan Transportation Authority police shortly before 8 p.m. June 16 after officers observed him on the Metro-North railroad right-of-way at the New Rochelle station, in an area marked with “NO TRESPASSING” signs. 

While on the phone with her son, Ms. Hostin told the responding officer, “My name is Sunny Hostin, and I’m one of the co-hosts of ’The View’ and I’m a former federal prosecutor,” according to the footage obtained by the New York Post. One officer replied that the situation was more than a matter of trespassing.

“Besides being illegal, it’s actually very dangerous for him to be around the railroad tracks. We get people who get hit all the time,” the officer, identified as Officer Gomez, said.

Ms. Hostin pressed her case, telling officers her son had no criminal history and was a Harvard graduate. Gomez told her the incident would be treated as a violation rather than a misdemeanor, saying, “There’s nothing on his record, and he’s been very cooperative with us. But as of right now, we will have to issue him an appearance ticket.” When Ms. Hostin arrived at the scene and asked that the citation be reduced further, the officer said he could not do so at that point.

An MTA Police spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Gabriel Hostin had been observed running near an electrified third rail before he was stopped, and that he was released with a summons after a background check turned up no criminal history.

Ms. Hostin, who is representing her son in the case, wrote to Westchester Assistant District Attorney Amanda Greene asking that the citation be dismissed. In the letter, she said her son had spotted what looked like a gravel incline suitable for hill training and that the “No Trespassing” sign was affixed to a gate that was standing open, making it not visible as he entered.

Charging documents and photographs obtained by Fox News Digital show a posted sign near the entrance to the property, reading “NO TRESPASSING – PRIVATE PROPERTY – VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED,” along with images of the gated access point. The photographs appear to show a posted sign near the entrance, differing from Ms. Hostin’s description that the warning sign was not visible when her son entered. Gabriel Hostin, a Harvard graduate, is scheduled to appear in New Rochelle City Court on July 31.

Ms. Hostin has not addressed the incident on social media or on “The View.”