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NYPD Boss Accused of Driving Cop to Suicide Says Pair Had Consensual Sex

By  Murray Weiss and James Fanelli | January 31, 2013 7:15am | Updated on January 31, 2013 9:59am

 Gina Schindler with her husband, Officer Matthew Schindler. A lawsuit claims Officer Schindler killed himself because a female supervisor forced him to have sex with her.
Gina Schindler with her husband, Officer Matthew Schindler. A lawsuit claims Officer Schindler killed himself because a female supervisor forced him to have sex with her.
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Gina D'Arpino Schindler/Facebook

JACKSON HEIGHTS — A female sergeant accused of repeatedly making sexual advances that led to a married cop's suicide told NYPD investigators that the pair was having a consensual relationship, sources said.

DNAinfo.com New York reported exclusively on Wednesday that a lawsuit claims Sgt. Christine Hirtzel forced her subordinate at the 115th Precinct, Officer Matthew Schindler, to have sex or face a bad work schedule.

But Hirtzel, who is married and has two kids, gave a different account to Internal Affairs investigators who looked into the allegations after Schindler's death, according to sources.

She allegedly said that she and Schindler had a consensual affair and that he killed himself after she tried to end the relationship and pressures at home mounted.

 A lawsuit claims Officer Matthew Schindler committed suicide because his female supervisor at the 115th Precinct forced him to have sex with her.
A lawsuit claims Officer Matthew Schindler committed suicide because his female supervisor at the 115th Precinct forced him to have sex with her.
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Gina D'Arpino Schindler/Facebook

Hirtzel said the day she tried to break up with Schindler, he grew distraught at the precinct station house and claimed he couldn't live without her, sources said. 

"If I can't have you, then I'm going to kill myself," Schindler allegedly told the sergeant.

After a despondent Schindler stormed off, Hirtzel confessed to a captain about the romance, sources said.

The captain tried calling Schindler to talk him down, but it was too late. The 14-year veteran cop shot himself with his service hand gun while driving home to his Long Island home on Feb. 13, 2012.

Despite the relationship with a subordinate, Hirtzel was cleared of any impropriety by investigators, sources said.

Schindler's widow, Gina, is suing Hirtzel and the NYPD, claiming the forced sex drove her husband to take his own life.

"Schindler told defendant Hirtzel, her sexual advances and demands and their concomitant impact on his work environment and career outlook had caused him to contemplate suicide," the lawsuit says.

Schindler transferred to the 115th Precinct in March 2011 and served as a highway safety officer. At the time, the father of three was the fourth NYPD cop to commit suicide inside of a month.

Gina Schindler's lawyer did not return a call for comment.