Cop caught in theft: I paid too high a price

AN NYPD COP swiped $20 — and it cost him his job.

Now, he’s suing to get it back, arguing he paid too high a price.

Officer Richard Arroyo, 47, filed his federal suit against the NYPD in Manhattan this week, claiming that lying to his fellow officers should not have resulted in his firing.

The end of Arroyo’s career as an officer in Brooklyn’s 75th Precinct began on April 20, 2016, when he was the subject of an Internal Affairs “integrity test,” papers show.

During a staged call about a drunken driver — who was actually an undercover officer — Arroyo searched the suspect’s vehicle and swiped $20 from a $55 wad of cash in a cup holder, according to documents.

When confronted by investigators seven days later, Arroyo initially denied taking the money, documents say.

During a departmental trial this year, Arroyo, of Islip, L.I., admitted he lied.

“He pleaded he was ‘human’ and made a mistake,” papers from the trial show.

But the tribunal overseeing his discipline saw no option but to recommend Arroyo’s sacking.

“Truly this is a tragic case,” wrote David Weisel, the assistant deputy commissioner of trials.

“Whether it was a one-time lapse or part of a previously unknown pattern, this act of misconduct has had profound consequences for him, his family and his colleagues.”

Commissioner James O’Neill approved Arroyo’s firing in May. His career ended just short of 20 years on the force, which would have made him eligible for a pension. Arroyo argued in his petition that his firing should be vacated because making false statements should not be a fireable offense.

“If the department is allowed to fire petitioner for making the false statements for which he was found guilty . . . then no New York City police officer’s job is safe,” his petition says.

“The penalty is shocking to the conscience.”

Arroyo, who is married and has a daughter, joined the NYPD in 1998 after serving eight years in the Army as a military police officer.

He patrolled the 75th Precinct in East New York, which was notoriously corrupt in the 1980s and the subject of a recent documentary, “The Seven Five.”

Arroyo had distinguished himself on the job many times over his career. But he also had, in his first four years on the job, three allegations of excessive force, abuse of authority or offensive language to civilians, according to documents.

Arroyo also was named in two separate lawsuits in Brooklyn Federal Court alleging false arrests. The city settled those cases for a total of $31,000.

Arroyo could not be reached, and his attorney did not respond to a request for comment

A Law Department spokesman said the suit would be reviewed.