An NYPD cop was busted last night on charges of breaking into his
colleagues’ lockers in their station house and stealing guns that were sold on
the street, The Post has learned.
Alleged gun-trafficking officer Nicholas Mina, 31, boosted four 9mm
firearms from the seventh-floor locker room at the Ninth Precinct in the East
Village, a law-enforcement source said yesterday.
Mina — a six-year veteran who worked midnight patrol tours — was
assigned to guard the lockers as part of a 24-hour security detail created by
department brass after the embarrassing thefts began in February.
“This is the lowest crime — to steal from your fellow cops. Somebody you
work with, you dress with, you change with,” said a retired cop who knows Mina.
“To rob a gun that could be used against a fellow cop someday. There’s nothing
lower.”
It’s suspected that Mina brazenly sneaked one of the guns out of the
tightly watched locker room on April 22, sources said. After that caper, a
sergeant was assigned to guard duty and the heists stopped.
Police officials also installed a security camera to monitor the
locker-room entrance, and added a second lock to each locker.
Along with the guns, bulletproof vests, cash and an iPad were lifted.
Mina allegedly sold the weapons to buyers unaware that he was a cop.
After the NYPD Firearms Suppression Unit got a tip about illegal gun
sales, it joined the Internal Affairs Bureau and the Manhattan DA to launch a
probe.
Mina was arrested yesterday, as were his alleged civilian cohorts —
identified by sources as Ivan Chavez, 24; Meryl Lebowitz, 64, and Jennifer
Sultan, 38. It’s not clear what roles the civilians — who are not NYPD
employees — played.
All four were charged with offenses including criminal sale of a
firearm.
Last night, IAB investigators descended on the station house and kicked
all cops out of the locker room. It had been long suspected the gun thefts were
an inside job.