Hooker: Cop I robbed was just ‘a trick’

To the rest of the world, Ali Sheppard is a proud NYPD police officer, but to prostitute Taquanna Lawton, he was just “a trick,” Brooklyn prosecutors said Friday.

Lawton, 20, did not shy away from her business relationship with the 13-year NYPD veteran late Thursday as she was arraigned for stealing the cop’s Jeep and gun when he ran to an ATM so he could pay for her services.

The prostitute also implied that she and Sheppard may have done business before.

“The defendant and the complainant are acquaintances,” Assistant District Attorney Tziyonah Langsam said. Lawton was held on $25,000 bail.

Lawton is charged with grand larceny for swiping Sheppard’s Jeep Wrangler at the corner of Liberty Ave. and Sackman St. in Brownsville just after midnight Tuesday.

The off-duty cop had just picked up Lawton and was about to take her to an East New York hotel when he pulled over to get some cash.

Lawton then slipped behind the wheel and sped off.

“(Sheppard) left the keys in the ignition,” Langsam said. “When (he) returned to the vehicle, the defendant and the vehicle were no longer there.”

Sheppard’s service pistol was inside the Jeep and hadn’t been recovered as of Friday.

Cops found Lawton and the stolen SUV in Far Rockaway early Wednesday. A second woman was in the Jeep with her, along with a Ziploc bag of crystal meth, prosecutors said.

The working girl was taken to the hospital for a checkup Thursday night after she told police that she was pregnant.

Cradling an apparent baby bump and sporting a cheetahprint top, Lawton said little as she was charged with grand larceny and drug possession. She was also accused of violating her probation after being released on a stolen property charge in Nassau County.

Lawton is on probation until 2023, prosecutors said.

Sheppard has been suspended without pay for 30 days and is facing disciplinary charges, NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said.