NYPD cop from LI charged with helping crew rob drug dealers

A city cop from Deer Park, in dramatic fashion, broke his oath to protect and serve by supplying police gear to a robbery crew and helping stage phony raids on drug dealers, federal officials charged Thursday.

The three-count indictment unsealed in a Brooklyn federal courtroom against Emmanuel Tavarez, 30, reads like the Hollywood version of a rogue cop story: Prosecutors say the eight-year department veteran used his police status to obtain NYPD logo jackets, bullet-resistant vests, handcuffs, badges and other cop tools. He then supplied the gear to a crew - four of whom he's related to by marriage.

They used it to stage authentic-looking raids and traffic stops on narcotics dealers, and kept the confiscated drugs and money, authorities said.

Altogether, the group is accused of stealing more than 250 kilos of cocaine and $1 million in cash between 2001 and 2008 in New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Officials have said some of those targeted were beaten, bound and tortured during the raids.

Tavarez often acted as lookout, but also participated directly in some robberies, even handing over his sidearm to a crew member, officials allege.

"On more than one occasion, Tavarez handed his firearm to a member of the robbery crew to embolden him to go through with the robbery," according to a letter prosecutors sent to the judge handling the case.

The case was broken in 2008 when federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents conducted a sting in Queens and arrested eight people they said had official badges and Miranda-rights cards, plastic-tie cuffs, police radios, and other cop paraphernalia. A car wired with police lights and sirens - allegedly used to pull over targeted dealers - also was later seized.

Tavarez, wearing an athletic shirt and pants, pleaded not guilty at his Brooklyn arraignment Thursday. Three relatives at the hearing declined to speak to a reporter, as did his attorney, Lisa Scolari of Manhattan.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes Jr. ordered Tavarez held in temporary detention. A bail hearing is set for Tuesday.

"The defendant is alleged to have committed serious crimes and compounded that by violating the very law he was sworn to uphold," said U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch in a written statement.

Tavarez has been suspended without pay, the NYPD said. He had been assigned to a security booth in a housing unit in Queens. DEA agents arrested him Wednesday. He is charged with robbery conspiracy, conspiracy to traffic in heroin, cocaine, and other drugs, and using a gun in a robbery. If convicted, Tavarez faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Yesterday's indictment adds him to a group of at least 15 previously indicted defendants. They include a former NYPD transit officer, Jorge Arbaje-Diaz, 30, who was charged along with two civilians in November 2008, and is awaiting trial. At least five of the defendants have already pleaded guilty.

With Pervaiz Shallwani