An ex-firefighter’s obsession with Madonna has finally paid off.
Robert Linhart, the former FDNY smoke-eater who was arrested twice for stalking the Material Girl, won a $455,000 award from a Manhattan jury Tuesday in an excessive force case against the NYPD.
“I got the finest police brutality that New York City has to offer and the jury saw and gave me money for the beatdown from the cops,” Linhart, 66, told The Post.
He was outside the “Like a Virgin” singer’s Harperley Hall apartment on W. 64th Street and Central Park West around 6:15 p.m. on Sept. 18, 2011 carrying a sign that read, “Madonna, I need you!” and “Tell me yes or no. If it’s yes, my dream will come true. If it’s no, I will go. XXXX.”
“He got a permit and was doing everything within his rights and the law,” said Lori Lefkowitz, Linhart’s attorney.
Still, Linhart says, the cops tried to break his signs.
“I said mother—-r, what do you think you’re doing destroying my property. Get the f–k away,” Linhart recounted.
Then, he claims, four cops “jump on me and beat the s–t out of me.”
He was cleared of graffiti and weapons charges in that incident, although he was convicted of resisting arrest in a subsequent stunt outside Madge’s apartment. He received three years probation for the second arrest.
Linhart sued in 2011 for $5 million over the first arrest. A three man, three woman jury deliberated for just an hour Tuesday before reaching a verdict in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“I’m finally vindicated,” Linhart said.
The ordeal has also cured Linhart of his lust for the “Vogue” singer.
“Let me just say my dreams turned into a nightmare. I know Madonna doesn’t want to meet me and I don’t want to meet her anymore,” he said.
Linhart plans to use his award to buy a new car.
A spokesman for the city Law Department said, “We believe the officers used reasonable force under the circumstances, but the jury disagreed. We are disappointed with this verdict and we are considering our options.”
