NYPD detectives charged with stealing $3k champagne at Electric Zoo
Three NYPD detectives have been charged with stealing almost $3k worth of “Ace of Spades” champagne (the very expensive brand owned by Jay-Z) at Electric Zoo last fall, New York Times reports. According to court documents, Jonathan Gonzalez, Wojciech Czech, and Warren Golden were part of a narcotics-enforcement detail at the festival, on duty in a VIP area where revelers had ordered bottles of the champagne. When the people left their table at one point, court documents say Gonzalez took two unopened bottles, worth $2900, and brought them to where he, Czech, and Golden were posted, putting them in a backpack.
The court documents continue that the people who ordered the champagne eventually had it returned to them, but not before confronting the detectives in front of festival security, who had stopped the three men trying to enter a staff-only area with their backpack full of champagne.
Gonzalez and Czech were arrested on Monday and charged with felonies: fourth-degree grand larceny and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. Golden was charged with a misdemeanor, official misconduct, as was Gonzalez. He and Czech, who pleaded not guilty, have been suspended from policy duty. Golden is still to be arraigned.
“Public confidence in the criminal justice system depends on members of law enforcement acting with the utmost integrity while on duty and following the same rules that apply to everyone else,” Manhattan district attorney Alvin L. Bragg said in a statement.