IT'S POLICE BEAU-TALITY
Cop couple ‘harassed’ by ‘jealous’ bosses
A Bronx sergeant who stole the heart of a stunning colleague and had a child with her was treated like a criminal by jealous fellow cops — who “investigated” the identity of the babydaddy like it was a criminal case, according to a lawsuit.
Sgt. Milton Valerio, 40, met Anajess Alvarez — who was the NYPD’s poster cop in a series of recruitment billboards — at the transit station house where the two worked near Yankee Stadium in The Bronx in 2019.
“I said ‘no’ to him a few times,” Alvarez, 28, told The Post with a grin. “Then we went out while with friends and we just hit it off.”
The couple decided to keep their relationship quiet because “I wanted to make a name for myself,” she said. “I didn’t want it to be like, ‘Oh, that’s Valerio’s girlfriend.’ ”
Around that time, Alvarez said her married boss, Lt. Christian Hernandez, “expressed interest” in her.”
“Despite her rejections, Hernandez continually asked her if she should be with him, even stating, ‘You’re so much better than my wife,’ ” according to a discrimination lawsuit Valerio filed in Manhattan Supreme Court last month.
After Alvarez told her bosses she was pregnant in October 2020, Hernandez became obsessed with finding out who the father was, according to Valerio’s lawsuit.
Hernandez began searching her license plate in an NYPD plate-reading system to see where she’d been driving and would search other vehicles assigned to the command to see which officers were driving near her home, the lawsuit alleges.
Pregnancy ‘criticized’
At the same time, Capt. Salvatore Marchese pressed Alvarez.
“You were one of my best cops, you shouldn’t have gotten pregnant,” he said, according to Valerio’s suit.
In early 2021, Hernandez found out that Alvarez was dating Valerio because he tracked the sergeant’s vehicle to the cop’s residence, according to court papers.
Hernandez allegedly began harassing Valerio, trying to get him kicked out of the precinct and alleging that he stole vacation time, an accusation later found to be untrue, according to his lawsuit.
Meanwhile, pregnant Alvarez was stripped of her car and assigned to a foot post on an overnight shift for two months.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Alvarez, whose daughter with Valerio is now 3. “Because I didn’t give my lieutenant the time of day, he went after Valerio.”
Valerio,a field intelligence officer who didn’t supervise Alvarez, said he lost out on overtime and promotions.
The NYPD banned dating between supervisors and officers they regularly supervise after a lap-dancing scandal in 2022.
Alvarez settled her own sexual harassment lawsuit against the city, Hernandez and Marchese in August 2023 for $225,000.
The couple has since gotten engaged and is planning a wedding. She still works in the Bronx transit district and Valerio works on the Upper West Side.
Alvarez said she knew it “wasn’t going to be easy” as an attractive woman at the NYPD.
The NYPD refused to comment on pending litigation.