NYPD probing detectives who worked security at house where man says he was tortured, AP source says
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and PHILIP MARCELO NEW YORK AP New York City police are reviewing two detectives who worked precaution at an upscale Manhattan townhouse where a man says he was kidnapped and tortured for weeks by two crypto investors who desired to steal his Bitcoin a city official announced Thursday Related Articles How to watch tonight s Scripps National Spelling Bee Foundations donate M to help restore historic Black church in Memphis gutted by arson What to know about onetime Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover whose federal sentence Trump commuted Tariffs are back on after an appeals court blocks a pact court injunction National Spelling Bee runners-up rarely go on to win But Faizan Zaki hopes to defy the odds One of the detectives serves on Mayor Eric Adams prevention detail and is assumed to have picked up the victim from a local airport and brought him to the townhouse the official disclosed It s not forthwith clear if the other detective who is a narcotics officer has any connection to the circumstance The detectives have been placed on modified leave pending the outcome of the inquiry according to the official who was briefed on the episode and spoke anonymously to The Associated Press because they are not authorized to discuss the internal inspection It is not uncommon for members of the NYPD to do private assurance work outside of their city jobs but they need to receive prior approval At this point the official stated the department is looking into whether the officers received that approval Adams office validated one of the detectives provides safeguard detail for the Democrat but noted the mayor has no knowledge of what the officer does on his personal time Every city employee is expected to follow the law including our officers both on and off duty the mayor s office commented in an emailed comment We are disturbed by these claims In response to an emailed inquiry an NYPD spokesperson established two members were placed on modified duty Wednesday A spokesperson for the labor union representing NYPD detectives didn t forthwith respond to an email seeking comment Thursday Wayne Gosnell center attorney for John Woeltz cryptocurrency investor charged for kidnapping and false imprisonment exits a courtroom Wednesday May in New York AP Photo Yuki Iwamura Crypto investors John Woeltz and William Duplessie have been charged in the occurrence Their lawyers have declined to comment Personnel allege that on May the two men lured the victim who they knew personally to a posh townhouse in Manhattan s Soho neighborhood by threatening to kill his family The man a -year-old Italian national who has not been named by bureaucrats mentioned he was then held captive for days as the two investors tormented him with electrical wires forced him to smoke from a crack pipe and at one point dangled him from a staircase five stories high He eventually agreed to hand over his computer password Friday morning then managed to flee the home as his captors went to retrieve the device The scrutiny into the officers began incidentally on the same day Adams headlined a crypto convention in Las Vegas where he described New York as the Bitcoin capital of the country
