GRAND JURY CHARGES NEW YORK CITY POLICE OFFICER WITH GRAND LARCENY AND OTHER OFFENSES FOR ALLEGEDLY STEALING A BANK DEBIT CARD FROM A SUSPECT

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a grand jury has indicted a New York City Police Officer for allegedly stealing property from a suspect whom he had placed under arrest.

Police Officer Russell Argilla , 30, of Mahopac, New York, has been charged with Grand larceny in the 4^th degree, Petit larceny, Falsifying business records in the 1^st degree, Official misconduct, Computer trespass, Criminal possession of stolen property in the 4^th and 5^th degrees, and Identity theft in the 2^nd degree. Argilla is facing a maximum sentence of up to four years imprisonment on each count if convicted of the most serious charges of Grand larceny in the 4^th degree, Computer trespass, and Identity theft in the 2^nd degree. All are Class E felony offenses. The charges are the result of an investigation by the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau and the Bronx DA’s Rackets Bureau.

Argilla was arraigned before Acting State Supreme Court Justice John Byrne and released on his own recognizance. The defendant, at the time the alleged crimes occurred between October 28, 2003 and November 1, 2003, was assigned to the Patrol Borough Bronx Anti Crime Unit. Argilla was placed on modified assignment during the course of the investigation and suspended after his arrest last night. Argilla has been a New York City Police Officer since July 1996.

It is alleged that Argilla stole a bank debit card and PIN number from a man whom he had arrested on October 28, 2003. The card and bank access code allegedly were taken from the suspect’s billfold when Argilla asked the man to produce identification as the arrest was being processed. The theft was uncovered during the course of the investigation which began after the suspect and his lawyer filed a complaint with the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau. Investigators determined that cash withdrawals from Automated Teller Machines began within hours of the suspect’s arrest while he was still in custody. It is alleged that Argilla and an accomplice split approximately $1,800 in cash withdrawals between October 28, 2003 and November 1, 2003. The charges against Argilla include his alleged failure to note the card on the voucher of property recovered from the suspect, and failure to notify his supervisors as well as the Internal Affairs Bureau, after the suspect told him that the debit card was missing from his billfold. Charges against the man Argilla had arrested were subsequently dismissed for insufficient evidence.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Todd Sherman of the Investigations Division’s Rackets Bureau.