Global Courant 2023-05-16 16:33:00
Two New York City Police Department detectives have been charged with stealing expensive champagne while on duty at an electronic music festival, and a third detective did nothing to stop them, prosecutors said Monday when announcing charges against all three agents.
Detectives Wojciech Czech and Warren Golden were charged and suspended on Monday. Czech pleaded not guilty to charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property; Golden pleaded not guilty to official misconduct, a misdemeanor. Both were released without bail.
A third detective, Jonathan Gonzalez, will be arraigned on all three charges later this week.
“Detective Czech is shocked and saddened by the criminal charges,” said his attorney, Oliver Storch, adding that his client is a 10-year law enforcement veteran who “enjoys protecting and saving lives.”
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Gonzalez’s attorney, Peter E. Brill, said he believes the charges “are the result of a misunderstanding of the facts, and after a jury has had an opportunity to hear the evidence in this case, he will be acquitted of all charges.”
A message was left requesting comment for Golden’s attorney.
Two New York cops have been charged with attempted theft of two expensive bottles of champagne. (Fox news)
The three detectives were engaged in drug enforcement at the Electric Zoo festival on Randall’s Island on Sept. 3.
According to Manhattan prosecutors, Gonzalez took two unopened bottles of Ace of Spades Champagne from a VIP table. Prosecutors say Czech participated by returning the bottles to Gonzalez after the latter briefly set them down to get a backpack, and that Golden stood by and did nothing to intervene.
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Some festivalgoers who had ordered the champagne understood what had happened and confronted the detectives in front of a festival security guard, who alerted his employer, prosecutors said. The employer alerted the police.
The champagne, worth a total of $2,900, was taken from Gonzalez’s knapsack and returned to the guests who ordered it, prosecutors said.
“Public trust in the criminal justice system depends on members of law enforcement acting with the utmost integrity while on duty and following the same rules that apply to everyone else,” Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said in a press release. .
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All three detectives have had custom assignments since last fall. The New York Police Department said on Monday it would “continue to pursue the facts in this investigation and initiate further discipline as appropriate.”
Public trust in the criminal justice system depends on members of law enforcement acting with the utmost integrity while on duty and following the same rules that apply to everyone else,” said
Gonzalez is accused of it
