NYPD Detectives Facing 50 Charges In Coney Island Rape Case

BROOKLYN, NY — Two NYPD detectives are facing a total of 50 criminal charges for their alleged rape of a teen they arrested in Coney Island last month, Brooklyn prosecutors announced Monday. Detectives Richard Hall and Eddie Martins were arraigned Monday in Brooklyn Supreme Court on charges including first-degree rape and official misconduct, prosecutors said.

The indictment largely confirms the 18-year-old woman's account of the brutal rape in the back of a police van while she was handcuffed on Sept. 15. Hall and Martins reportedly claim the sex was consensual even though the woman was under arrest.

The detectives were arrested at 7 a.m. Monday and have been suspended from the force, the NYPD said.

"It is incomprehensible that two veteran NYPD detectives would allegedly commit such an outrageous act," Eric Gonzalez, the acting Brooklyn district attorney, said in a statement. "They took an oath to protect and serve, but allegedly violated that oath by raping a young woman who was in their custody. We will now seek to hold them accountable for this flagrant betrayal of public trust."

The pair faces a broad range of charges that, in addition to rape, includes kidnapping, 20 counts of sex abuse, 10 counts of coercion and receiving a bribe, the NYPD said. Both pleaded not guilty, according to the New York Post.

Martins, who allegedly raped the woman both vaginally and orally, has reportedly been released on $250,000 bond, while Hall was released $100,000 bond. The fact that the cops were able to get out of jail upset the woman, said her lawyer, Michael David.

For anyone else, "you kidnap and you rape, you wouldn't be getting out on such a small bail," David told Patch.

Mark Bederow, Martins' attorney, said he's "confident" the detective will be acquitted. "We believe a substantial portion of the allegations are not credible and not true," he told Patch.

Hall's attorney, John Arlia, was not available for comment Wednesday.

The indictment's account of the alleged rape lines up in many places with that of the woman, who goes by the pseudonym Anna Chambers on social media. She is also suing the NYPD for $50 million.

Hall and Martins were supposed to be helping with a drug sting when they pulled over Chambers' Infiniti Coupe just after 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15, prosecutors said.

They saw marijuana in the cup holder and ordered Chambers and her two male friends out of the car. Chambers admitted that she had marijuana and two pills of Klonopin, an anti-anxiety drug, prosecutors said. The detectives arrested and handcuffed her, said she'd get a desk appearance ticket and told her friends to get her from the 60th Precinct in three hours, an investigation found.

Martins told the woman that he and Hall are "freaks" and "asked her what she wanted to do to get out of the arrest," prosecutors said. Martins then allegedly forced her to perform a sex act on him and raped her while Hall drove and watched in the rear-view mirror, prosecutors said. Then they switched places and Hall forced the woman to perform a sex act on him, prosecutors said.

The cops dumped the woman near the 60th Precinct in Coney Island after returning her pills and telling her to "keep her mouth shut," prosecutors said. Both the cops' DNA was found on the woman's body, and surveillance footage shows her leaving the police van at 8:42 p.m., prosecutors said.

Bederow said prosecutors brought inconsistent charges of forcible rape and others that suggest the cops engaged in a "quid pro quo of sex for freedom."

"That tells me they may not believe the story they're getting either," he told Patch.

But David rejected that. The indictment validated the story the woman's been telling for weeks, he said.

"It goes hand in hand, because they first tried bribing her and when she wouldn't accept a bribe then they raped her," David told Patch.

(This story has been updated with comments from Michael David. Lead image via Patch)