COP BOOZE CAPER
Admits trying to steal pricey Jay-Z champagne
One of the three narcotics detectives charged with trying to swipe two pricey bottles of Ace of Spades, the champagne brand owned by Jay-Z, at the 2022 Electric Zoo concert has pleaded guilty, authorities said.
Detective Jonathan Gonzalez, who joined the NYPD eight years ago and resigned in December, pleaded last Wednesday to petty larceny and official misconduct, both misdemeanors, said the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Gonzalez was sentenced to 10 days of community service, and the DA’s office said he has already completed an alcohol treatment program.
Case are pending against two other detectives — Wojciech Czech, charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property, and Warren Golden, charged with official misconduct. They have pleaded not guilty and are currently suspended from the NYPD with pay.
Gonzalez, Czech and Golden — who were all assigned to Manhattan North Narcotics — were on duty Sept. 3, 2022, assigned to look for drug activity on Randalls Island during EZoo, the electronic dance music festival that drew thousands of fans.
Court papers say the three detectives were posted in a VIP area where a group of concertgoers had ordered the champagne officially known as Armand de Brignac but more widely known as Ace of Spades, after its logo. The brand is owned by Jay-Z and a French luxury goods company.
When some of people at a table in the VIP area who had ordered the champagne walked away, Gonzalez grabbed two unopened bottles whose worth was estimated at $2,900 and walked back to Czech and Golden, authorities said.
Gonzalez put the bottles on a table where Czech and Golden were standing, and then retrieved a backpack, the official account of the incident goes. Czech then allegedly handed the bottles to Gonzalez, who stuffed them into the backpack, while Golden stood by and did nothing to stop it, authorities said.
The alleged attempted theft was thwarted when one of the people who ordered the champagne saw what had happened and alerted a concert security officer, who took the booze back from Gonzalez and called police.
After the allegations came to light, then-Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell cleared out Manhattan North Narcotics, transferring a dozen detectives and their supervisors, including Deputy Chief Brian McGee and Inspector Peter Fiorillo.
Police sources said other cops are likely to be disciplined soon by the NYPD. The department said a sergeant involved in the case is on modified duty, working a desk job without his gun or shield.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charges rather than risk a felony conviction, said his lawyer Peter Brill.
Gonzalez believed the bottles that he picked up had been abandoned by the VIP guests, Brill said. “This was a misunderstanding that could have easily been resolved,” the lawyer said.
Gonzalez has moved out of state and ended his law enforcement career, Brill said.