Convictions Tied To Disgraced Uptown Cop Vacated By Manhattan DA

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Multiple convictions tied to a disgraced former Upper Manhattan police officer who was sentenced to six years in jail in 2018 were dropped on Thursday, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced.

A total of 188 misdemeanor convictions connected to eight NYPD cops previously convicted of crimes related to their law enforcement duties were dropped. Those officers included Johnny Diaz, who was an officer from 1995 to 2018 while serving in the 34th Precinct.

“Trust and confidence are essential to achieving public safety," Bragg said in a news release. "New Yorkers must know that everyone is acting with the utmost integrity in the pursuit of equal justice under the law. Without that belief, our criminal justice system will never be able to deliver real and lasting safety that every community deserves."

Diaz admitted to possession of a controlled substance, taking bribes and petty larceny after he busted a drug dealer who was really an undercover police officer.

Diaz stole $1,000 from $18,000 he should have handed in relating to an arrest and stole back a cell phone from the evidence room at the Inwood precinct, while also accepting a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label scotch as a gift, the Daily News reported at the time.

Diaz was sentenced in 2018.

Over his career as a cop, Diaz had 25 allegations made against him, with six ending up getting substantiated, according to the police complaint database website 50-A.

The substantiated complaints included multiple unjustified frisking incidents and stops of people, according to 50-A.

He was also part of a lawsuit that cost the city $50,000 in 2007.

The arrests that were vacated all took place between 2001 to 2016.

“While most law enforcement officials and police officers are dedicated public servants, these eight officers, who played a material role in hundreds of arrests, criminally abused their positions of power.," Bragg added in the press release.