NYPD detectives arraigned on rape and kidnapping charges

Two NYPD narcotics detectives in Brooklyn were arraigned Monday on charges they raped and kidnapped an 18-year-old woman they had arrested and handcuffed last month during a drug buy-and-bust operation.

Detectives Eddie Martins, 37, and Richard Hall, 32, pleaded not guilty to the charges in a 50-count indictment alleging they raped the woman on the night of Sept. 15 and forced her to perform oral sex in Calvert Vaux Park in the Gravesend section.

“It is incomprehensible that two veteran NYPD detectives would allegedly commit such an outrageous act,” said acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in a statement. “They took an oath to protect and serve, but allegedly violated that oath by raping a young woman who was in their custody.”

Both Martins, an 11-year veteran, and Hall, who has been an officer for seven years, pleaded not guilty at their arraignments before Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun. The judge set bail at $250,000 for Martins and $150,000 for Hall. Both officers, who were suspended without pay on Friday, were able to post bail bonds and exited the courthouse without commenting.

Defense attorneys Mark Bederow and John Arlia, who in the past have said the sex was consensual, didn’t return telephone calls for comment.

Michael David, an attorney for the woman, said the indictment “validated all her claims.” David said his client didn’t want Martins or Hall offered bail believing them to be a danger to the community. He has filed a $50 million notice of claim against the city on behalf of the woman.

The charges against the detectives, which include allegations of first-degree criminal sex act, official misconduct and other offenses, stem from their nighttime stop of an Infiniti coupe driven by the woman, who was accompanied by two male passengers, Gonzalez said.

The detectives, who were in plainclothes, told all three occupants to exit the Infiniti, officials said. When asked by the detectives if they had any drugs, the woman told them she had marijuana and two Klonopin pills, an anti-anxiety and anti-seizure medication, officials said.

Martins and Hall then handcuffed the woman, told her she was under arrest, and let her two companions go with instructions to retrieve her in three hours at the 60th Precinct in Coney Island, officials said.

It was then, according to Gonzalez, that the detectives drove away in a police van and alternately took turns sexually assaulting the woman. After driving back to the precinct, the detectives had the woman call her friends to pick her up and then gave her back the Klonopin, prosecutors alleged.

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.