An NYPD narcotics detective and two sergeants are under investigation after security camera footage appeared to show one of them pocketing $2,650 during a raid on a Bed-Stuy deli.
Detective Ian Cyrus was vouchering evidence at the deli on Friday night after arresting two employees accused of selling un-taxed cigarettes. The 73rd Precinct later gave manager Ali Abdullah a receipt showing $593 had been seized during the raid, but Abdullah tells ABC 7 that $2,650 disappeared.
"I was thinking it was robbery, because I never seen the video," said Abdullah, who was not present the night of the raid. "I'm missing $2,650. Two thousand six hundred and fifty, my rent money for the store, was in the box. I thought the workers, it was the workers. They're stealing it."
But when Abdullah checked the security camera footage, he says it showed Detective Cyrus discovering the cigar box full of cash, bending over, and pocketing it. Here's the video:
Abdullah says that after he called police to report the theft, an NYPD supervisor viewed the footage and said. "Oh (expletive)...He's going to lose his pension, lose his life, for $2,600?"
Cyrus is now under investigation and was suspended without pay. The Daily News reports that Sgt. Fritz Glemaud, who supervised the raid, has been put on modified assignment. And Sgt. Valerie Santos, "who was allegedly told about the missing money but didn’t report the complaint," was also put on desk duty. (The News also reports that Glemaud is one of the NYPD's most frequently sued officers, and "has been named in more than 15 lawsuits alleging a range of civil rights violations" resulting in $300,000 in settlements.)
Reached for comment, Cyrus's wife told the News, "They could accuse any detectives... any 10 detectives... he did nothing wrong. Putting things into detectives’ pockets is standard procedure."
