A New York City man has filed federal suit against the city, alleging that he was forced to spend six weeks on Rikers Island simply because he fit the nondescript bill of a black suspect wearing a hoodie.

David Owens names both the city and police officer Anthony Francavilla as defendants in his suit, which stems from an October 2012 arrest. Owens was returning home after working the overnight shift at a Macy's department store when he was taken into custody.

The New York Daily News reports Owens had just clocked out from his job as a stock clerk when he was approached by officers aboard the No. 1 train headed uptown. An hour or so earlier, an "erratic, possibly intoxicated and definitely hysterical" white woman had told police she had been robbed of her backpack by a black man apparently wearing a hoodie.

Reports are Owens was still at Macy's during the time the alleged robbery took place, but officers refused to listen to him or check out his story before charging him with grand larceny and hauling him off to jail, where bail was ultimately set for him at $3,550.

Ultimately, Owens spent six weeks locked away before prosecutors agreed to drop all charges. Over that time, he lost his job at Macy's, all based on the word of a "totally unreliable" witness, his suit alleges.

"It messed me up," said Owens, who has since moved to Georgia. "I just hoped and prayed I wouldn't get killed in there, and I would be able to tell my story so other people wouldn't have to go through what I did."

Francavilla was previously involved in another high-profile case, where he was accused of misconduct. In April 2014, Evan King claimed Francavilla called him a "d*ck," threw him to the ground and threatened to kill him, all because he asked why he was being stopped and questioned at a Midtown subway station.

King also sued the city, and earlier this year, the case was settled for $30,000 in Manhattan Federal Court.

Meanwhile, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his administration have recently taken steps to overhaul the current bail system in hopes of preventing low-level suspects like Owens from rotting in jail for lack of financial resources.