NYPD BOOZE

Beer in Bronx precinct could be brewing scandal

IT COULD have been a cold case.

But when an NYPD captain stumbled upon the evidence in a Bronx precinct dormitory Friday, he found just four empty Budweiser cans in the trash and a six-pack in the fridge.

Still, it was enough to open a case.

Popping his top over finding booze in the 47th Precinct stationhouse, the captain launched an internal investigation, cop sources said. Twenty officers — most of them detectives — are expected to be interviewed by investigators.

Sources said the captain went to the Laconia Ave. stationhouse about 1 a.m. Friday, apparently looking for a lieutenant.

Instead, he found another lieutenant sleeping in the dorm in the detective squad, as cops often do after their shifts.

But then the captain noticed something was amiss. Rummaging in the trash, he found the four empties. Another six unopened Buds were in the refrigerator.

No cop was found unfit for duty, including the lieutenant, but alcohol is banned from police facilities.

“The matter is under review,” said Deputy Chief Kim Royster, an NYPD spokeswoman.

Two sources familiar with the incident said the probe vir- tually shut down all investigations Friday while 11 detectives were being grilled. Nine others will likely be interviewed Saturday.

Michael Palladino, head of the Detectives Endowment Association, said he was amazed at the intensity of the investigation.

“Sounds like an awful lot of energy investigating four empty beer cans in an empty squad room garbage can,’’ he said. “No crime was committed, no one was driving and no one was unfit for duty.” It was not immediately clear what penalty the cops could face.

Sources said if it appears the drinking took place after hours and the cops involved have an otherwise clean record they could escape with a let- ter of instruction, meaning a warning placed in their personnel files. The same sources, however, said it would not be unheard of if suspensions are handed out and the cops are slapped with departmental charges.

The last major alcohol scandals occurred in 2009 and involved two off-duty cops, with tragic consequences.

Officer Andrew Kelly struck and killed a preacher’s daughter in Brooklyn. He later resigned and pleaded guilty in the case. But the preacher publicly forgave Kelly, who got 90 days in jail and agreed to undergo rehab.

In the other case, Detective Kevin Spellman hit and killed a 66-year-old woman in the Bronx. He was sentenced to three to nine years in prison.