56 minutes ago
22
A depraved NYPD commander turned his precinct into a perverted frat house, pitting a jealous cabal of cops against a female officer who rejected his relentless raunchy advances, according to an explosive lawsuit filed this week.
Maria Delacruz, 33, alleges Capt. Amanjeet Sandhu, her precinct commander in Transit District 1 on the Upper West Side in 2023, “declared his love” for her and “expressed his desire to become her lover rather than remain her supervisor,” according to the suit filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Delacruz feared retaliation, so she initially kept quiet about the alleged sexual harassment, she said.
“I didn’t feel like there was anyone I could go to,” the mother of an 8-year-old son told The Post in an exclusive interview.
Sandhu took over the command in January 2023 and by March was regularly assigning Delacruz to be his driver, according to the suit.
Throughout 2023, Sandhu “increasingly directed sexually explicit comments toward her,” according to the suit.
He commented on her “breasts, buttocks, face, eyes and body, including referring to her as a Latina with large buttocks and making remarks about her ‘booty,’” according to the lawsuit.
“If I was your man, I would slap that ass all the time,” Sandhu told her, according to the suit filed by lawyer Eric Sanders.
“Eventually, Delacruz spent entire tours in Sandhu’s office or accompanying him in his departmental vehicle,” according to the suit.
When she stood up to leave his office, he would make comments that included, “That ass is huge!” according to the lawsuit.
He would also suggest she remove her bullet proof vest and then stare at her breasts and bite his lip creepily when she talked to him, the suit alleges.
He also told her about “dreams in which he was having sex with her,” she claims.
Delacruz was repulsed by the constant comments about her body and told him, “What the f–k? Stop” to no avail, according to the suit.
On one occasion, Delacruz opened the door to his office and discovered the exec with his pants halfway down, according to the suit. When he saw her at his door, Sandhu told her to come inside, the suit says.
“He was wearing white underwear and a tank top and Delacruz could see the outline of his penis through his underwear,” according to the suit.
On another occasion in 2023, Sandhu instructed her to accompany him on a drive, and attempted “to kiss her against her wishes,” the suit states.
“Delacruz immediately pulled away and pushed him back, declaring ‘No, you are married. Are you crazy?’” according to the suit.
He told her he wanted her “to regard him as a lover” and “indicated that he would leave his wife to be with her,” according to the suit.
Then, at the 2023 Patrol Borough Midtown South Christmas party at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, Sandhu grabbed her left arm and pulled her toward him, she alleges in the suit.
“You’re coming with me tonight,” he said, insisting that they should leave together and sleep together, according to the lawsuit. She refused and told him she was going home with her friend but he continued gripping her arm painfully, Delacruz alleges in the suit.
By the summer of 2024, sexual rumors about Delacruz and Sandhu “had contributed to serious workplace hostility” with other cops — including a confrontation in which she was half-naked in the women’s locker room when another female officer accused her of “f—ing the captain,” according to the suit.
Some of her coworkers brought complaints about the alleged relationship to Deputy Chief Steven Mauriello, at the Manhattan Transit Bureau, according to the suit.
Delacruz, who insists that she never had a sexual relationship with Sandhu, confronted Mauriello in his office on July 17, 2024, according to the suit.
“Why are you going around saying I’m sleeping with Sandhu?” she asked him.
He responded, “I’m not the only one saying that. Everyone here thinks that,” according to the lawsuit.
The Internal Affairs Bureau interviewed Delacruz over the locker room dust-up. She planned to tell the IAB investigators about the harassment, but Mauriello allegedly pressured her to keep that part out.
“If you just keep it to what happened in the locker room, I will make sure you get transferred to wherever you want to go,” she said he told her, according to the lawsuit.
Delacruz did not tell IAB about the sexual harassment and took the transfer, she said. Maurello didn’t return The Post’s message seeking comment.
“Rather than obtain meaningful protection, Delacruz found herself pressured to leave TD1,” according to the lawsuit — which seeks unspecified damages — against Sandhu, Mauriello, Police Commissioner and others.
Sandhu continued his alleged campaign of harassment and in September 2024, after her transfer, he sent her a disappearing WhatsApp message featuring a porn video, according to the suit.
“The pornographic video depicted a dark-haired woman positioned over a naked man lying on his back with an erect penis, which she manually stimulated,” according to the suit.
Delacruz was taken aback.
“She reacted with shock and disgust, responding ‘What the f–k?'” the suit states.
In another message after she transferred, he wrote, “I think I should buy you a dildo. How many dildos do you own?” according to the suit.
He also questioned how frequently Delacruz had sex, how many times she got “f–ked,” and how often she masturbated, according to the lawsuit
Delacruz repeatedly objected, including telling him, “Enough. Stop asking those questions. That’s my personal business,” according to the lawsuit.
In late 2024, Sandhu sent her a photo of a woman wearing a thong with her breasts exposed and legs open, the suit states.
Sandhu, who made $222,138 in 2025, didn’t return The Post’s call seeking comment.
The cop’s claims are the latest sexual harassment and abuse allegations at the NYPD, the lawsuit points out.
Retired NYPD Lt. Quathisha Epps alleged in 2024 that former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey paid her a shocking amount of overtime for sex, a scandal first exposed by The Post.
The Department of Justice opened an investigation after the report but no charges have been filed. Maddrey maintained the relationship was consensual and denied any quid pro quo.
In 2025, NYPD Inspector Jeremy Scheublin was fired after being arrested on multiple felony charges, including attempted rape of a female subordinate. Scheublin has pleaded not guilty.
The female cop filed a lawsuit alleging that Scheublin, commanding officer of the 46th Precinct at the time, told her “I want to make biracial babies with you” while attacking her in his stationhouse office in Fordham Heights in The Bronx, The Post reported exclusively.
The NYPD hasn’t been served with the Delacruz lawsuit yet and will respond to it when they receive it, a spokesman said.
Delacruz, who has since been transferred to Manhattan North Patrol borough in Harlem, said she hopes her story will convince other female cops to come forward about alleged abuse.
“I want to make sure that girls are not getting sexually harassed and feel safe to speak up,” Delacruz said. “I would like to be that supervisor that someone could come to and actually feel comfortable enough to tell me what’s going on.”
