DA: NYPD Cops Faked Drug Bust

One officer on reassigned duty, the other left department

Two police officers -- one no longer with NYPD and the other on modified assignment -- face indictments for allegedly faking drug busts at an Elmhurst bar last year, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced Thursday.

Henry Tavarez, 27, and Stephen Anderson, 33, are awaiting arraignment on a 42-count indictment.

Tavarez and Anderson were among a team of officers conducting a buy-and-bust operation at Club Delicioso in January 2008 that resulted in the arrests of six people involved in two separate drug deals.

Brown said four of the men arrested were wrongly accused of selling cocaine to the police officers. One of those men produced a copy of security video outside the bar that confirmed the officers had no interaction with the four who were wrongly arrested. Their charges were dropped in June.

Brown also said that Anderson in June had advised Tavarez to claim he'd forgotten details of the arrest as they prepared for an upcoming grand jury interview.

If convicted, each of the officers could spend up to nine years in prison.

Contact Us