The manager of the Manhattan Shake Shack where multiple NYPD officers falsely claimed to have been poisoned last summer is suing the city, multiple cops, and two police unions for defamation.

In a suit filed on Monday night, Marcus Gilliam alleged that he was falsely arrested and unjustly humiliated after three cops on protest duty in lower Manhattan accused him of dosing their milkshakes last June.

After sipping the drinks, the cops — identified in the suit as Officers Strawberry Shake, Vanilla Shake, and Cherry Shake — complained to the manager that they tasted funny. Gilliam responded by apologizing and giving the cops free vouchers, which they accepted, according to the suit.

Nevertheless, the officers allegedly informed their supervisor that they'd been fed a "toxic substance," possibly bleach. The NYPD quickly erected a crime scene at Shake Shack, sending 20 officers to question the store's employees, search through their bags, and review surveillance footages. The cops, who reportedly did not show any symptoms, were rushed to Bellevue Hospital.

In a tweet that night, the NYPD's detectives union said that officers had been "intentionally poisoned by one or more workers at the Shake Shack at 200 Broadway in Manhattan." The Police Benevolent Association echoed the claim, adding that "police officers cannot even take meal without coming under attack."

Since-deleted tweets from the PBA and the DEA alleging that officers were poisoned at Shake Shack

Twitter

The shakes were ordered on a mobile app, which would not have indicated that the customers were NYPD officers.

Gilliam, 28, was arrested and taken to the 1st precinct, where he was detained for hours, as detectives "taunted him about putting bleach in the milkshakes," according to the suit. "You put three of my cops in the hospital," the sergeant, who is not named in the suit, allegedly told the manager.

He was released at 1:30 a.m., around the same time that the NYPD publicly acknowledged no wrongdoing on the part of the Shake Shack employees. Both unions deleted their tweets, but did not issue a public apology to the manager.

The short-lived scandal came at the heart of last summer's racial justice demonstrations, and followed several other allegations against left-wing protesters that ginned up widespread outrage, but never bore out.

Earlier in the month, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea claimed without evidence that bricks and rocks had been strategically placed at a corner in Gravesend, far from any organized protests. The same week, the department warned officers of "concrete disguised as ice crime" found near a Manhattan protest, which many pointed out resembled testing samples commonly used at construction sites.

Gilliam alleges that the experience caused him terror and mental anguish, as well as lost wages and legal fees. He is seeking unspecified monetary damages.

The NYPD referred comment to the Law Department, which said they will review the case. Inquiries to the two police unions named in the complaint were not returned.