Cop Suspected Of Rape Faces New Charges
Detectives: raped ex-girlfriend at gunpoint even though he's not
authorized to carry a gun
RIDGEWOOD, QUEENS, NY
(PIX11)—
Less than a week after
a jury could not reach a verdict on a rape charge against a New York police
officer, another employee of the NYPD is under arrest
and charged with rape and a long list of other charges. What's more, the
suspect in the latest case works in New York City public schools as a school
safety officer.
In that position, he is not authorized to have a firearm, but the rape he's charged with was done at gunpoint, according to investigators.
"[He] ends up getting in a dispute, beats the crap out of her, knocks her to the ground and rapes her," retired detective supervisor and PIX11 News contributor Wally Zeins said in his assessment of what police sources describe as a brutal rape that took place in School Safety Officer Tommy Johnson's Ridgewood, Queens apartment on Saturday.
On Sunday, the alleged victim, Johnson's 35 year-old former girlfriend, filed charges. Around 2:15 Monday morning, Johnson was under arrest, charged with rape, menacing, assault, and illegally possessing two guns in his apartment. Nobody came to the door of that apartment in the 300 block of Woodward Avenue when PIX11 News came knocking Monday. Johnson shares the second floor home with his mother.
His neighbors, for their part, were visibly stunned to learn the charges against the six-year veteran school safety officer. "He was a nice guy," Rosa Santiago said about Johnson, 28, who lives directly across the hall in small apartment building that houses just two apartments per floor. "He'd just say 'hi' every time I see him. He says, "Hi, how you doing," Santiago said. "If I have something to bring up[stairs], he'd do that."
It's not clear to which school Officer Johnson is assigned. The NYPD told PIX11 News that, as a policy, it does not release information about a suspect's place of employment unless it's directly pertinent to the suspect's arrest. Also, the Department of Education said to PIX11 News that since Johnson is an employee of the NYPD, it cannot release information about where he works, even though he works within the DOE's system.
One thing that is clear is that in the two months preceding Johnson's arrest, a series of employees at New York City Public Schools have been arrested for sex crimes. In fact, over the past nine weeks, the seven arrests have come at an average of one every eight-and-a-half days.
The situation prompted the Department of Education to review all of its investigations over the last decade, and to fire four employees who had been investigated during that period, but who were not in custody for the infractions with which they were charged. The DOE is in proceedings to fire four additional employees, who have union protected status which allows them to dispute efforts to remove them.
This latest case, however, is the first of this year involving an NYPD employee in the school system. It has at least one experienced sex crimes investigator calling for change, and that call is expected to become a chorus once it's learned at which school Officer Tommy Johnson works.
"There is some sort of problem within the system," Detective Zeins said. "Especially with the backgrounds [of applicants]. There should be evaluations."
Late Monday afternoon, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hines added more felony charges against Johnson. Hines added burglary, sexual misconduct, criminal trespass and harrassment to the previous charges of rape, menacing, assault, and illegal possession of firearms.
Johnson's arrest comes four days after a judge accepted a jury's partial verdict on sex charges against NYPD officer Michael Pena. The jury could not reach a consensus on rape charges in the case, but convicted Pena, 27, on a variety of other sex crime charges. When Pena is sentenced next month, he could still get life in prison.
Officer Tommy Johnson goes before a judge Monday night for his first court appearance.
In that position, he is not authorized to have a firearm, but the rape he's charged with was done at gunpoint, according to investigators.
"[He] ends up getting in a dispute, beats the crap out of her, knocks her to the ground and rapes her," retired detective supervisor and PIX11 News contributor Wally Zeins said in his assessment of what police sources describe as a brutal rape that took place in School Safety Officer Tommy Johnson's Ridgewood, Queens apartment on Saturday.
On Sunday, the alleged victim, Johnson's 35 year-old former girlfriend, filed charges. Around 2:15 Monday morning, Johnson was under arrest, charged with rape, menacing, assault, and illegally possessing two guns in his apartment. Nobody came to the door of that apartment in the 300 block of Woodward Avenue when PIX11 News came knocking Monday. Johnson shares the second floor home with his mother.
His neighbors, for their part, were visibly stunned to learn the charges against the six-year veteran school safety officer. "He was a nice guy," Rosa Santiago said about Johnson, 28, who lives directly across the hall in small apartment building that houses just two apartments per floor. "He'd just say 'hi' every time I see him. He says, "Hi, how you doing," Santiago said. "If I have something to bring up[stairs], he'd do that."
It's not clear to which school Officer Johnson is assigned. The NYPD told PIX11 News that, as a policy, it does not release information about a suspect's place of employment unless it's directly pertinent to the suspect's arrest. Also, the Department of Education said to PIX11 News that since Johnson is an employee of the NYPD, it cannot release information about where he works, even though he works within the DOE's system.
One thing that is clear is that in the two months preceding Johnson's arrest, a series of employees at New York City Public Schools have been arrested for sex crimes. In fact, over the past nine weeks, the seven arrests have come at an average of one every eight-and-a-half days.
The situation prompted the Department of Education to review all of its investigations over the last decade, and to fire four employees who had been investigated during that period, but who were not in custody for the infractions with which they were charged. The DOE is in proceedings to fire four additional employees, who have union protected status which allows them to dispute efforts to remove them.
This latest case, however, is the first of this year involving an NYPD employee in the school system. It has at least one experienced sex crimes investigator calling for change, and that call is expected to become a chorus once it's learned at which school Officer Tommy Johnson works.
"There is some sort of problem within the system," Detective Zeins said. "Especially with the backgrounds [of applicants]. There should be evaluations."
Late Monday afternoon, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hines added more felony charges against Johnson. Hines added burglary, sexual misconduct, criminal trespass and harrassment to the previous charges of rape, menacing, assault, and illegal possession of firearms.
Johnson's arrest comes four days after a judge accepted a jury's partial verdict on sex charges against NYPD officer Michael Pena. The jury could not reach a consensus on rape charges in the case, but convicted Pena, 27, on a variety of other sex crime charges. When Pena is sentenced next month, he could still get life in prison.
Officer Tommy Johnson goes before a judge Monday night for his first court appearance.
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