Cops Indicted For Unlawful Washington Heights Arrest

Two NYPD officers are facing charges for making up false statements to back up a 2014 arrest of a Washington Heights man, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Sasha Cordoba and Kevin Desormeau, both 33, arrested a 38-year-old man for gun possession inside of a residential building on West 175th Street, the DA’s office said in a statement. The officers said that they had seen the man threaten somebody with a firearm and discovered the weapon in the man’s waistband during the arrest and backed up those claims in interviews with supervisors, prosecutors and official paperwork.

But there was one slight problem — they lied, according to the DA’s office. The gun was not recovered in the possession of the 38-year-old man, but instead as a result of an unlawful search of the man’s apartment, the DA’s office said in a statement.

The truth came to light after interviews, surveillance video, and text messages sent by Desormeau revealed that the two police officers had fabricated details of the arrest, according to the DA’s office. The gun possession case against the 38-year-old Washington Heights man was eventually dropped.

Cordoba has been charged with first-degree perjury, offering a false instrument for filing, making a punishable false written statement and official misconduct, the DA’s office said. Desormeau will face charges of offering a false instrument for filing and official misconduct, according to the DA’s office.

“These defendants are charged with fabricating the details of an arrest—seemingly out of thin air—in gross violation of their training, NYPD protocol, and the law,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement. “When members of law enforcement commit misconduct, they threaten the credibility of our work and the safety of the citizens whom we are sworn to protect. My Office’s Public Corruption Unit remains committed to prosecuting crimes by law enforcement.”

Via source