She signed up to serve and protect — not steal — but the NYPD officer accused of using a dead man’s credit-card number to buy herself a diamond ring is also being sued for allegedly joining fellow officers in pocketing $200 from a Queens man they arrested.
Officer Ymmacula Pierre, 30, is named along with seven other NYPD cops who arrested Stefon Luckey in a St. Albans bodega on May 13, 2013.
Cops followed Luckey into the bodega and handcuffed him for no reason while punching and pepper-spraying him as they called him racial slurs, his 2014 lawsuit alleges.
“The defendant police officers then confiscated plaintiff’s identification, keys and wallet containing approximately $200 in cash,” states the Brooklyn federal court suit. “Upon being discharged from the hospital’s care, plaintiff returned to the 113th Precinct and attempted to obtain his identification, keys and wallet containing approximately $200 in cash. The defendants returned only plaintiff’s keys.”
Pierre, a three-year veteran, Monday over the credit-card incident and released on her own recognizance.
The attorney representing Luckey said Pierre’s arrest over the diamond ring made him suspicious about what happened to his client’s cash.
“The Police Department has not been able to identify conclusively who took my client’s property, and this certainly raises questions about a possible person who may have absconded with my client’s money,” said the attorney, Philip Hines.
In the incident that led to her arrest, cops say Pierre and her partner responded to the East 14th Street apartment of architect Kenneth Sanden, 65, who hadn’t shown up for work, in July 2014.
Two days after Pierre properly vouchered his credit card, the number was used to buy a $3,200 diamond ring from Zales.com, according to court records.
The attorney defending Pierre in the diamond-ring case, Izzy Fried, declined to comment.
Police spokespersons declined to speak about Pierre, who is currently suspended without pay.
Court papers filed by the city Law Department deny Luckey’s allegations.
Additional reporting by Daniel Prendergast and Shawn Cohen
