The NYPD’s top uniformed cop has been officially cleared of controversial abuse-of-authority charges after the Police Commissioner Edward Caban signed off on a judge’s decision to toss the case, The Post has learned.
The move comes less than a month after department judge Rosemarie Maldonado ruled that the Civilian Complaint Review Board — the NYPD’s watchdog — exceeded its own authority when it pursued a case against Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey for allegedly interfering with the arrest of an ex-cop in 2021.
“My client is happy with the outcome and is looking forward to putting this entire situation him,” Lambros Lambrou, Maddrey’s attorney, said on Tuesday. “We are glad the police commissioner accepted and approved the well-thought-out recommendation of Maldonado.”
Caban’s signature signals the end of an investigation that began after a November 2021 encounter between retired cop Kruythoff Forrester and three young boys in Brownsville, Brooklyn, who had hit Forrester’s security camera with a basketball.
Forrester allegedly pulled a gun and chased the trio, who were horsing around outside a real estate office the former officer’s family owned, sources said at the time.
Cops arrested him afterward.
But Maddrey — who was well-acquainted with Forrester from his time as a precinct commander – ordered a sergeant to void the arrest and said cops should book the boys instead.
CCRB officials eventually found Maddrey abused his authority, which prompted former NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell to discipline him.
But that decision rankled City Hall officials and partly led to Sewell’s departure.
In June, Maddrey’s attorney filed a motion to toss the case altogether, arguing that the review board had no authority to pursue it.
Maldonado agreed two months later, declaring the CCRB can only investigate the NYPD’s misconduct when it’s directed “towards members of the public.”
“Rather, the allegation of misconduct in this case involves a Respondent who had no interaction with the public, but made allegedly questionable orders after the public encounter, back at the precinct,” she wrote.
“Therefore, Respondent’s ‘participation in the investigation’ at the stationhouse, and his subsequent decision to void the arrest, is a matter to be investigated by (Internal Affairs Bureau) or another NYPD oversight entity, not CCRB.”
Maldonado’s ruling came just a single day after outspoken CCRB head Arva Rice resigned following months of tension with City Hall, which has often been accused of being reluctant to discipline dirty cops.
Not everyone was thrilled by the decision.
‘Don’t believe your lying eyes’ is hardly a novel defense against allegations of NYPD misconduct, but it is particularly obscene to deploy it in this case,” MK Kaishian, the attorney representing the three youths, said in a Tuesday statement.
She added that her clients’ account has been supported by independent reporting and video footage, but the NYPD’s unwillingness to “hold its high-ranking officials accountable is a separate matter entirely.”
“The system works overtime to protect powerful people, so it’s even more unfortunate that the Chief and his advocates have gratuitously chosen to vilify child victims of violence and denigrate honest NYPD members instead of simply asking for what they want: To keep all the Chief’s vacation days.”
