CITY COP IN GUN ARREST
Officer also faces race probe
An NYPD cop stripped of his gun and badge was busted at a White Plains steakhouse over the weekend on charges of illegally carrying a loaded .45-caliber pistol, the Daily News has learned.
Police Officer Joseph Deramo — who sources say is under NYPD investigation on charges of stalking his girlfriend and posting a racist meme about the Obamas on Instagram — was briefly jailed on criminal possession of a weapon charges after he was seen with the gun inside the Z Prime Steakhouse (photo above) in downtown White Plains shortly before 10 p.m. Friday, say court papers.
Deramo was seen carrying the loaded pistol in a holster affixed to his hip, the court papers say.
Deramo identified himself as a police officer to White Plains cops. But when White Plains officers checked with the NYPD, they were told he was on modified assignment and had lost permission to carry a firearm.
Deramo pleaded not guilty at arraignment Sunday in White Plains City Court, and posted bail. His lawyer, Cesar Gonzalez, declined to comment on the case when reached
Tuesday.
White Plains police referred calls about Deramo’s arrest to the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau. An email to the NYPD for comment was not immediately returned.
Last month, the NYPD launched an “internal investigation” to find out if Deramo had posted an image of two monkeys in formal wear walking away from President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump after the 2017 inauguration.
“The President and the First Lady seeing the two animals back to their cages at the zoo,” Deramo allegedly wrote, inferring that the monkeys in the image represented former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
The picture was posted under the private Instagram handle “Frenchfri1982,” which sources say is used by Deramo.
An email to Deramo for comment on the Instagram post was never returned.
Deramo joined the NYPD in July 2015, according to his LinkedIn page. He was exonerated of misuse of force and abuse of authority charges in an incident Dec. 26, 2018, according to Civilian Complaint Review Board records published by the New York Civil Liberties Union.