A man with a long arrest record walked into an East Harlem police precinct station house and left a short time later dressed as a cop — wearing a stolen NYPD dress coat and carrying a host of other purloined items, including six sets of flex cuffs, various documents and keys, police said.
The 23rd Precinct security breach is now being investigated by the NYPD, police sources with knowledge of the case said.
The suspect, Timothy Adams, who is homeless, didn’t get far. He was arrested nearby the next night as he slept inside a NYCHA apartment building. Charged with burglary, petty larceny and criminal trespass, Adams was ordered held on $10,000 bail.
The suspect, according to the criminal court complaint, was caught on camera walking into the station house on E. 102nd St. at 5:40 a.m. Monday, blowing past two signs reading, “Authorized Personnel Only.”
He then walked into the commanding officer’s office, one police source said.
When he left the building a short time later, he was clad in a NYPD dress shirt and coat — typically worn at police ceremonies and funerals — the complaint said. Adams was also carrying a blue bag.
It’s not clear when precinct personnel realized that their security had been breached.
Adams was arrested about six blocks away from the station house on Tuesday night after a 911 caller reported there was a man dressed as a cop and passed out inside NYCHA’s Clinton Houses on Lexington Ave.
Adams told police he ripped off the 23rd Precinct, the complaint said. Inside the blue bag were the plastic flex cuffs, the complaint said.
It wasn’t clear if the other stolen items were recovered. Police said they include a tie and tie clip, police documents, five sets of office keys, a business card, 12 NYPD challenge coins and 10 sets of collar brass — insignia pins that indicate an officer’s rank or unit.
Adams was additionally charged in an unrelated petit larceny case at his arraignment after he was accused of taking $2.45 from a store’s tip jar on Jan. 6.
Police said that among his 47 other arrests was one on Nov. 19 for another alleged tip jar theft in which he stole $2.56 from an East Harlem Dunkin’ Donuts.
Adams has several pending cases, including a loaded gun possession charged from the Bronx in 2023, records show.
His lawyer for the 23rd Precinct theft did not respond to a request for comment.
