A New York Police Department officer is being accused of sharing a picture of a suspect’s bank card to a group chat, declaring, “Lunch on me, guys.”
Officer Andy Urrutia, 24, allegedly took a photo of the card belonging to a woman who was arrested in March before sending it into a group chat, according to the New York Post, which cited Bronx prosecutors.
It is unclear whether it was a debit or credit card.
Mr Urrutia allegedly wrote “Lunch on me, guys” and sent it to the group a few days after the woman’s arrest on unspecified charges, a criminal complaint obtained by the outlet said.
Another person in the group said, “Probably got overdraft fees cause they broke, to which Mr Urrutia allegedly replied, “Try it. You are all welcomed [sic].”
“It’s a Bronx zip code. I believe so,” he is accused of adding, accoridng to the news website.
A person then responded, “About to run it up at Starbucks,” the court papers alleged.
The complaint included financial records that showed four declined transactions on the card at a Starbucks within a 12-minute period the same afternoon.
The woman apparently learned that her card was being used and declined while sitting in an NYPD stationhouse and reported it to the authorities, New York Daily News reported.
The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau tracked the crime down to Mr Urrutia.
Mr Urrutia was suspended from the NYPD without pay following his arrest within the precinct he used to cover, according to the New York Post.
The NYPD told The Independent that the police officer was arrested at 11.04am on Tuesday while he was off-duty and was charged within the 52 Precinct, the northern part of the Bronx.
He was charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, petit larceny, official misconduct, identity theft and the unlawful possession of personal ID, according to the police department
A Bronx Criminal Court judge ordered the former officer to be released without bail, according to the New York Daily News and will be back in court on 6 February.
