Detective who allegedly raped, stalked and ‘terrorized’ ex-cop girlfriend got a pass from NYPD: lawsuit
The NYPD failed to discipline a detective who allegedly raped his cop girlfriend and then “terrorized” her by stalking and harassing her after they broke up – despite her telling at least 18 people in the department about about the abuse, she claims in a new lawsuit.
The since-retired sergeant — who filed suit anonymously under the initials A.H. — says the department turned a blind eye after she reported that first grade Detective Neftali Cruz had allegedly raped her in 2018, and then again the following year, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit from Tuesday.
The pair started dating in January 2018 but A.H. broke things off by March 2019 after she learned she contracted an STD from Cruz, the filing alleges.
Cruz, 51, then allegedly “terrorized” 46-year-old A.H. at work, calling and showing up to her command as many as 20 times in one shift – and earned the nickname “crazy” and “loco” among cops because of how frequently he creeped on her, according to the suit.
Her eventual disability retirement didn’t stop her ex from continuing his relentless stalking and harassment – with Cruz still texting her to this day, albeit less frequently, the lawsuit claims.
A.H. accuses Cruz, who is the highest rank of detective, of raping her on Sept. 12, 2018, when they were dating.
He then allegedly showed up at her house late on Sept. 25, 2018 “with pizza as a token of apology to reconcile” – but this encounter “quickly deteriorated, and defendant Cruz became violent,” the suit alleges.
A.H. claims she then confronted Cruz on Oct. 2, 2018 about the “escalating physical altercations, including the rape less than a month prior,” the filing alleges.
But Cruz allegedly screamed at her and drove her to the NYPD’s 111th Precinct in Queens challenging her to report it and saying no one would believe her “because he was responsible for training all the undercovers in the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau,” the suit claims.
He then kicked her out of the car while she was in “essentially her underwear,” according to the court documents.
A.H. says she disclosed the rape to someone in the department’s Employee Assistance Unit, but despite a mandate that that person report these crimes they failed to do so, the suit alleges.
If the NYPD — which allegedly knew Cruz was violent — had taken “corrective action, the future sexual crimes against plaintiff would have been prevented,” the suit charges.
The filing states that Cruz was frequently transferred in the NYPD, including for once allegedly threatening to physically fight and “hospitalize” his supervising lieutenant.
A.H. claims that Cruz continued to harass her following their confrontation, and that she reported his alleged behavior to her union, but the reps also failed to intervene, according to the court docs.
On Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 22, 2019 A.H. reluctantly had sex with Cruz, acquiescing because she didn’t want him to get upset, the filing states.
She discovered she contracted an STD from Cruz after that encounter, and when she confronted him about it, he proceeded to “curse at her and tell her she is lying,” the suit claims.
A.H. ended the relationship then, in March 2019, and that’s when Cruz allegedly launched a stalking and harassing campaign against her, the lawsuit claims.
On June 7, 2019, she went to Cruz’ to drop off his belongings and a gift for his daughter, and said she started to feel “abnormally tired” as she was on her way home, prompting her to head back to his house because of how drowsy she was, the suit states.
A.H. – who doesn’t drink alcohol – “was drugged by defendant Cruz” and passed out only to awake to feel her insides burning and to see him ejaculating on her, the suit alleges.
She immediately confronted Cruz about allegedly having had sex with her while she was sleeping – and recorded the exchange, the suit claims.
After an extensive conversation in which she told him she was “knocked out,” that her “insides hurt,” and that she woke up to him ejaculating, he replied “I’m sorry,” the lawsuit claims.
A.H. reported the alleged rape to the Employee Assistance Unit and they again failed to act, the court papers state.
A.H. went onto disability retirement due to a line of duty injury where an emotionally disturbed person threw kerosene at her face and lit himself on fire. She had to undergo seven surgeries and ultimately retired in July 2022, according to the court docs.
The former sergeant was so worried Cruz would mess with her retirement, that she didn’t take her six-months of accrued time off beforehand – forfeiting roughly $55,000, the filing states.
She filed her suit under the Adult Survivors Act against the city and Cruz, bringing claims of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, hostile work environment. She also brought a claim of battery against Cruz.
She is suing for unspecified damages.
“The NYPD knew about the rape of my client in 2018 yet turned a blind eye to these crimes which led to my client being raped a second time, further abused and stalked,” her lawyer, John Scola, told The Post.
“The NYPD, as a whole, repeatedly fail to protect their women officers from sexual harassment and as a result force them to work in a toxic culture that views them as sexual objects,” he said.
In a text message Sunday, Cruz called the suit “untrue” while declining to comment further.
A spokesperson with the NYPD declined to comment on pending litigation. The city Law Department didn’t return a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods
