Michael Ameri, NYPD Top Brass, Kills Himself Amid FBI Probe (Updated)

Pictured: NYPD Insp. Michael Ameri

BROOKLYN, NY — The NYPD has confirmed that top brass Michael Ameri, 44-year-old head of Highway Patrol and the man formerly in charge of Brooklyn's 78th Precinct, apparently committed suicide Friday afternoon.

Ameri, known in the Park Slope area as a kindhearted community cop and citywide as a true advocate for safer streets, "was found deceased in his vehicle of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Babylon, New York," the NYPD said in a news release Friday.

The head of Highway Patrol had recently been questioned by the FBI as part of an extensive federal probe into suspected corruption among NYPD officials, according to "police sources" who spoke to the New York Post and the New York Daily News.

A spokesman for the Suffolk County Police Department on Long Island confirmed to Patch that "homicide squad detectives are investigating a death that occurred on Bergen Avenue in West Babylon," near the Bergen Point Golf Course. The death was reported at 12:42 p.m. Friday, the spokesman said.

Clues at the scene indicated Ameri's death was likely a suicide, Patch has learned.

The Post and the Daily News, who've been following the FBI's NYPD probe closely these past few weeks, have reported that it centers on "splashy" gifts — including lavish trips abroad — that high-ranking police officials allegedly accepted from wealthy Brooklyn businessmen, in exchange for excused NYPD tickets and other favors.

Neither newspaper's sources ever identified Michael Ameri as a specific target of the investigation.

However, Patrick Parrotta, an attorney for one 66th Precinct detective questioned in the investigation, did at one point say the department's "chief of highway" was involved. We've contacted Parrotta for clarification.

Patch profiled Ameri back in January 2012, right after he took control of the 78th Precinct. (Aka, Park Slope, Gowanus, Prospect Heights and Prospect Park.)

“The people of the community expect quality service from their local precinct, whether it is accident reports or quality of life complaints, they care about their community,” Ameri said at the time. And "as the precinct’s commanding officer, I will rise to their needs."

When Ameri was appointed head of Highway Patrol in summer 2014, the Park Slope Street Safety Partnership attributed the promotion to "his embrace of Vision Zero initiatives."

"While it's a loss for Park Slope, the entire city will gain as a result," the group said.

Right of Way, a local street-safety org, applauded the appointment as well. The group said in 2014: “Having the Collision Investigation Squad headed by an NYPD veteran like Inspector Ameri who ‘gets it’ that dangerous drivers are perpetrators of violence — and that the pedestrians they kill and injure are victims of preventable crimes, not of accidents — is potentially a big step forward in keeping New Yorkers safe."

Just last year, Ameri personally escorted the Pope on his visit to NYC.

Patch has not been able to confirm Ameri's connection to the FBI's ongoing probe. (In fact, the FBI won't confirm on the record that there's any such investigation at all.) But the Daily News reported Friday, again citing police sources, that Ameri's "name surfaced in the ongoing federal police corruption probe."

Ameri was questioned, the paper reported, but never disciplined.

DNAinfo's police sources went even further Friday, claiming Ameri was "friendly" with Jeremy Reichberg of Borough Park, a mainly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood — one of two Brooklyn businessmen who have allegedly been showering NYC police and politicians with gifts in recent years, expecting special treatment in exchange.

More than six NYPD officials have reportedly been disciplined by the department — reassigned, demoted, etc. — in response to the FBI investigation. Big names among them include former Chief of Department Philip Banks, as well as Deputy Chief Eric Rodriguez, second in command of Brooklyn South patrols.

Like we said, Ameri was never specifically named as an FBI target.

However, as leader of the 78th Precinct, his jurisdiction did overlap with Rodriguez'. And he certainly worked closely with Orthodox Jewish community leaders and patrolmen in the nearby 66th Precinct, which covers Borough Park.

Also, for what it's worth, James Grant, who led the next-door 72nd Precinct while Ameri led the 76th, has reportedly been stripped of his badge and gun for accepting heaps of gifts and cash — diamonds, even — from Reichberg, the same Borough Park businessman who is rumored to be friendly with Ameri.