The New York Police Department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer has stood down from his role after he was accused of predatory sexual harassment.
Jeffrey Maddrey abruptly resigned from his post as the Chief of Department on Friday evening after the accusations were made by a female NYPD Lieutenant.
On Saturday morning The New York Post reported that Maddrey had traded large numbers of overtime hours in exchange for sexual favors from a subordinate.
Lieutenant Quathisha Epps told the outlet that Maddrey had ‘preyed upon her’ and even went as far as demanding sex inside the NYPD headquarters.
In an interview with the outlet she said: ‘He wanted to have anal sex, vaginal sex, oral sex. He was always asking me to kiss his penis.’
Epps and her lawyer Eric Sanders said they planned to file a notice of claim with the city comptroller outlining her allegations.
She had worked for Maddrey as she moved up the ranks in the force, from Chief of Housing to Chief of Patrol.
She said that his sexual demands started in June 2023 when he landed the top job as Chief of Department. His lawyer has denied all of the accusations.
Epps claims that the married officer first demanded sex from her while inside his office inside One Police Plaza, the NYPD headquarters.
She said that Maddrey was sitting at his desk with his pants open and wearing a undershirt while he rubbed his chest as he propositioned her.
Epps told the outlet: ‘He said he dreamed about f****** me in my a**. I said ‘but Chief, you’re the Chief of Department’.
‘He rubbed his chest, his work pants were open. He was like ‘I’m still a n***** and you look good’.
Epps added that she was asked to go into the back room of his office where he has a couch and a bathroom.
Sobbing, she told the post: ‘He bent me over the arm of the couch and when I tried to back away but he was telling me ‘just let me put it in a little bit’.
Epps detailed the interaction the two had in which she claimed she asked him to stop multiple times and that he was hurting her.
She claimed the two had sexual intercourse ten times after their initial interaction. Maddrey started being generous with overtime a few years after, she said.
She said she told him of financial troubles including her house possibly foreclosing before the overtime started coming her way.
Epps claimed that he then had her do jobs outside of police work which involved helping his ‘girlfriend’, another officer, under his direction.
‘Part of the overtime was to take care of his girlfriend. He would have me go apartment hunting with her’, she added.
She also claimed that she had an apartment that he asked her to give to his girlfriend that had been in her children’s name.
Epps added: ‘I think he’s a predator. He’d say, ‘We’re going to save your house.’ Like he’s rescuing me. When he’s really just f******* me.’
According to her, as she tried to get away from him her high overtime earners were outed in a list.
On Monday, it was revealed she had earned more than $400,000 in the fiscal year 2024, which included $204,000 in overtime for a total of 1,626 hours in the year.
She filed for retirement after being outed for the eyewatering figures, and was then suspended on Wednesday.
In a statement, Maddrey’s attorney Lambros Lambrou denied the allegations against his client.
He said: ‘What a convenient time to accuse somebody of misconduct now that she’s been suspended by the NYPD and accused of stealing time.
‘She’s obviously drowning and in the deep end of the pool without a lifesaver. She wants to take down as many people as she can. This is completely meritless, and we deny every aspect of it.’
The department said in a statement: ‘The NYPD takes all allegations of sexual misconduct seriously, and will thoroughly investigate this matter.
The allegations come after former cop Tabatha Foster sued him in 2016 and accused him of making persistent sexual advances.
Her case was dismissed in 2019 by a federal judge before a state suit against him was also dismissed this year.
Maddrey joined the police force in 1991 at the age of 20 and rose through the ranks to become chief of housing in 2021 and then chief of patrol later that year.
He was then promoted to chief of department last December, according to his department biography.
Earlier this year, an administrative trial judge in the department recommended dropping a disciplinary case against Maddrey.
That case had revolved around a November 2021 incident in which he ordered officers to void the arrest of a retired officer who previously worked for him.
The judge ruled at the time that the city´s Civilian Complaint Review Board, a police watchdog agency, lacked jurisdiction. to pursue the case.
John Chell, the department’s chief of patrol, will take over as interim chief of department and Philip Rivera will assume Chell’s duties as the head of the patrol division, the department said.