2 NYPD cops indicted, made false statements in weapons case, DA says

Two NYPD officers were indicted Thursday on charges they concocted the details of a criminal case that led to a man’s arrest on weapons charges, officials said.

Sasha Cordoba and Kevin Desormeau, both 33, face assorted felony and misdemeanor charges after they allegedly made false statements to support the arrest of a suspect in upper Manhattan in 2014, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.

“These defendants are charged with fabricating the details of an arrest — seemingly out of thin air — in gross violation of their training, NYPD protocol, and the law,” Vance said.

Desormeau, of Bay Shore, and Cordoba, of Queens, both have been suspended without pay for 30 days, an NYPD spokesman said. The two were arrested Thursday at Vance’s office, and both pleaded not guilty at their arraignment the same day, officials said.

According to Vance, the two officers arrested a 38-year-old man inside a residential building on West 175th Street on Nov. 6, 2014, on charges relating to possessing a gun.

The officers then claimed to their supervisor, a prosecutor and in legal paperwork that the man had threatened another person with the gun, which they observed in his waistband when they arrested him, Vance said.

Cordoba repeatedly restated those facts in a court complaint, a search warrant application and in grand jury testimony, Vance added.

Vance explained that interviews, surveillance videos and text messages revealed the falsehood of the cops’ claims and, as a result, the underlying firearms case against the man was dismissed.

Corboda faces one felony count of perjury, as well as offering a false instrument for filing and other charges such as official misconduct, a misdemeanor, Vance said. Desormeau faces one felony count of offering a false instrument for filing and one count of official misconduct, officials noted.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.