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2 NYPD Detectives Indicted for Inventing Arrest Info 'Out of Thin Air:' DA

By Allegra Hobbs | February 17, 2017 7:59am

MANHATTAN — Two NYPD detectives were arrested and indicted Thursday for lying about the details surrounding the 2014 arrest of a man in Washington Heights, falsely testifying he had threatened another person with a gun and that he had displayed the gun in his waistband, the Manhattan District Attorney's office said.

“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,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance 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."

Partners Sasha Cordoba and Kevin Desormeau, both 33, in November 2014 arrested a 38-year-old man at an apartment on West 175th Street for possessing a gun. They falsely claimed they had seen the gun tucked into his waistband shortly after someone had claimed they were threatened at gunpoint, the DA's office said.

They were indicted Thursday for lying about these details to officials and in written documents, according to the DA's office.

The false statements were written in a search warrant application used to justify the seizure of the firearm, according to the District Attorney's office, while Cordoba repeated that version of events in a criminal complaint and before a grand jury, leading to the man's indictment.

But prosecutors discovered their account was false after combing through interviews, surveillance video, and text messages between Desormeau and someone else, the DA's office said.

Instead, the officers had illegally searched the man's apartment and seized the weapon inside, according to the indictment of the two officers.

Desormeau was indicted on one count of offering a false instrument for filing and one count of official misconduct.

Cordoba was indicted on two counts of offering a false instrument for filing and one count of official misconduct, and has also been charged with perjury and making a punishable written false statement for lying in a criminal complaint and before a grand jury.

The officers were arrested in the District Attorney's Office in Manhattan's 5th Precinct on Thursday morning and were arraigned that afternoon. The DA's office announced their indictment shortly thereafter.

Information on the officers' attorneys was not immediately available.