Two NYPD cops groped a prostitute and stole her money after responding to a 311 name at a infamous Queens prostitution den nicknamed the “Market of Sweethearts,” prosecutors stated Monday.
On-duty officers Justin McMillan, 27, and Justin Colon, 24, allegedly stormed a Jackson Heights residence in July 2024 and caught a intercourse employee and a john within the act — earlier than McMillan snatched cash from her purse, grabbed her breast and rubbed her rear finish, based on a felony grievance.
Their bodycams allegedly weren’t activated and so they went again to the 115h precinct with out submitting any paperwork or reporting the incident.
The companions pleaded not responsible to expenses of housebreaking, forcible touching, petit larceny and official misconduct earlier than Queens Justice Jessica Earl-Gargan. They have been each instantly suspended with out pay.
McMillan, of Atlantic Seashore on Lengthy Island, and Colon, of Lengthy Island Metropolis, have been assigned to foot patrol on July 19, 2024 once they obtained a 311 name about alleged prostitution happening inside a residential constructing on 89th Avenue — close to Roosevelt Avenue, a infamous red-light district housing backroom bordellos.
The officers arrived on the constructing and allegedly turned off their body-worn cameras after stating: “I don’t see anything,” based on the indictment. However they lingered across the constructing and have been approached by a girl exiting by means of a aspect door, the indictment acknowledged.
McMillan and Colon then allegedly inspired the lady to enter the constructing with them earlier than they snatched her bag, dumped its contents onto the ground — and took the keys to an inside door that was locked.
The 2 cops ultimately left the constructing and continued with their patrol with out reporting again on the decision — solely to return to the 89th Avenue dwelling eight hours later, prosecutors stated.
That’s when McMillan and Colon — who have been nonetheless on obligation and had their physique cams deactivated — discovered a intercourse employee with a male consumer who bolted on the first signal of the officers, based on the indictment.
McMillan, who was assigned to the a hundred and fifteenth precinct in October 2023, allegedly went into the lady’s purse and groped her, earlier than she fled the constructing and referred to as 911, prosecutors stated.
Colon entered the police academy in July 2023 and was assigned to the 115h precinct in January 2024 — simply seven months earlier than the alleged misconduct.
McMillan and Colon have been positioned on modified obligation in August 2024 when the alleged misconduct was uncovered by the NYPD’s Inner Affairs Bureau earlier than it was transferred to the Queens District Lawyer’s workplace.
“We hold our officers to the highest standard of professionalism and integrity, and failing to meet that standard is disqualifying,” Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch stated in an announcement. “Let me be perfectly clear: Any officer who violates their oath will be investigated, exposed, and held fully accountable. That standard will never change.”
The “Market of Sweethearts” was uncovered by The Publish as a thriving underground marketplace for intercourse on Roosevelt Avenue.
In January 2024, the NYPD busted a dozen brothels posing as therapeutic massage parlors on the neighborhood as a result of “allegations of illegal prostitution activity.”
Each officers resist 15 years in jail if convicted of the highest expenses.
They have been ordered again to court docket on April 28.
