Renegade NYPD Officer Jorge Arbaje-Diaz Tortured and Robbed Drug Dealers
While serving on the NYPD, Jorge Arbaje-Diaz belonged to a dangerous crew of armed robbers who routinely targeted drug dealers
The NYPD is one of the oldest metropolitan police departments in the nation. It is also the largest department in the largest city in America. Because of its size, it is inevitable that there will be some corruption. Even still, when a police officer breaks the law and violates their oath, it is a massive betrayal to the public that they serve.
Such was the case with NYPD officer Jorge Arbaje-Diaz. Arbaje-Diaz worked in a Transit Division located within the 44th Precinct in the Bronx. It would eventually be revealed that while still working as an NYPD officer, Arbaje-Diaz was moonlighting as a member of an armed robbery crew that was specifically targeting drug dealers.
From Cop to Criminal
Jorge Arbaje-Diaz moved to the US from the Dominican Republic when he was 19 and joined the NYPD after earning a college degree. He was assigned to the NYPD’s Transit District 11 in 2005. But soon, Arbaje-Diaz would cross the line from cop to criminal.
Arbaje-Diaz, now a three-year veteran of the NYPD would join a violent robbery crew responsible for over one hundred armed robberies across the eastern U.S. These robberies netted the crew more than $4 million in cash and hundreds of kilograms of narcotics. They would make entry into the targeted locations by posing as NYPD officers.
The crew’s MO was to target drug dealers and traffickers and, if necessary, torture them into revealing the location of cash and drugs. It was detailed by informants that Arbaje-Diaz would use his status as a police officer to gain entry into their victims' homes. The crew would then handcuff, and rob their victims at gunpoint, relieving them of their money and narcotics.
It was revealed that Arbaje-Diaz had committed armed robbery whilst in his NYPD uniform, wearing his badge and equipped with his government-issued firearm; Arbaje-Diaz also was involved in a robbery that saw a child held at gunpoint.
The 183rd Street Robbery
In August 2008, Arbaje-Diaz and the crew conspired to rob a drug dealer on 183rd Street in Upper Manhattan. The members in question and Arbaje-Diaz were caught on CCTV footage in the apartment block lobby. They believed the apartment’s occupant was holding around $25,000 along with cocaine and other narcotics.
When they first arrived at the apartment around 2 p.m., the resident was not home, so they decided to use a hydraulic pump to break down his door. However, as they were bringing the pump into the building, they spotted “victim #1” arriving home.
The man was then forced at gunpoint to open the apartment door and Arbaje-Diaz and the other crew members entered the apartment.
The crew then proceeded to ransack the apartment, whilst other members roamed outside, circling the block and keeping an eye out for law enforcement. However, during the search of the apartment, no drugs or money were found.
Arbaje-Diaz was allegedly caught on a surveillance camera exiting the building holding a laptop after the heist. The camera footage also showed several Hispanic males with baseball hats pulled low, with at least eight of them having entered and exited the apartment.
Arrest and Conviction
Unbeknownst to Arbaje-Diaz, the feds, as well as several state and local police departments, were investigating the robberies and the crews responsible for them. They also had several crew members cooperating in order to lessen their own sentences.
These informants positively identified Arbaje-Diaz as a member of the crew and an NYPD officer. They had directly participated in several robberies with Arbaje-Diaz and had direct knowledge of many of his criminal activities.
Jorge Arbaje-Diaz was arrested in October of 2008 and resigned from his role in the NYPD. His lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, opted for the “sympathy” tactic. Chaudhry argued that due to Diaz’s salary, he was forced into a string of criminal actions as he was struggling financially to take care of his family and to pay for the “variable-rate mortgage” on his home.
However, United States District Judge Nicholas Garaufis did not accept his weak defense. “The idea that he was motivated by a variable-rate mortgage puts us in the world of the absurd.”
During the trial, Diaz admitted to “Getting carried away in the reckless character of youth” which made some people believe his motivation was not financial, but rather action and adrenaline.
On May 13th, 2010, Jorge Arbaje-Diaz pled guilty to the charges against him, and in June 2010, he was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. In November 2014, Diaz filed a motion to reduce his sentence to ten years as “A dirty cop would have a difficult time in prison.”
His appeal was denied.
Sources:
Quigley, Rachel “Policeman who led double life as a thug is jailed for 20 years”, June 8th 2011 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2001041/NYPD-cop-Jorge-Arbaje-Dia-led-double-life-thug-jailed-20-years.html
“Former New York City Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Commit Robberies and Heroin Trafficking” May 13th 2010, https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/nye/pr/2010/2010may13.html
Talley, Mackenzie “Jorge Arbeje-Diaz, A Story of Corruption”, January 25th 2021, https://prezi.com/p/ks1hljlidnbh/jorge-arbaje-diaz-a-story-of-corruption/
Schlissel Law Clerk, March 27th 2012,https://www.schlissellawfirm.com/new-york-police-officer-convicted-of-robbing-drug-dealers/
Mulvey, Erin, “Former NYPD Officer Charged in Armed Robbery Scheme” November 7th 2008, https://prod9.dea.gov/sites/default/files/divisions/nyc/2008/nyc110708p.html