A NYPD rookie has been suspended following allegations that she intervened in her brother-in-drink-driving law’s arrest, barely five months after she was caught on camera giving a married colleague a lap dance.
Officer Vera Mekuli, 27, has been suspended after being accused of interfering in her brother-in-arrest law’s on May 8 in New Jersey.
According to The New York Daily News, Mekuli’s brother-in-law was detained by New Jersey State Police for reportedly urinating on the side of the road.
Mekuli is claimed to have stormed the house as a result of this.
into a nearby station barefoot early the next morning, where she allegedly announced she was a police officer, and demanded to know why her brother-in-law had been arrested.
Her alleged antics saw her suspended without pay on May 27. Officials have not said how long the suspension will last.
NYPD cop Vera Mekuli, pictured, has been suspended over claims she meddled in the arrest of her brother-in-law after he was allegedly caught peeing at the side of the road while driving drunk
Mekuli was suspended without pay on May 27. Officials have not said how long the suspension will last
Mekuli became a viral sensation in December 2021 when a video of her giving a lap dance to a married superior officer at a holiday party
Mekuli is accused of showing up in a dress and bare feet to complain about her brother-in-law’s arrest here at the New Jersey State Police Barracks in Totowa
In the early hours of May 8, Mekuli showed up at the state police barracks in Totowa clad in a dress and barefoot.
According to the report, Mekuli wanted to know why officers the arrest had occurred.
When Mekuli was confronted with the reasons for the detention, the officer started to record officers on her phone.
The Daily News quotes a report as saying: ‘Officer Mekuli immediately began to question the validity of the arrest.’
Mekuli became a police officer with the NYPD in February 2021
An investigation into the state troopers arrest of her brother-in-law found no wrong doing
Mekuli was told by an officer that the department had ‘procedures to follow.’ She is described as becoming ‘irate’ and demanding to speak to a lieutenant, reports The New York Post.
She allegedly told the state police: ‘You guys are talking out of your ass; none of this was done correctly.’
Mekuli did not file an official complaint at the time but someone she was with filed a report with the New Jersey State Police Office of Professional Standards.
That investigation found no wrongdoing by the officers.
Mekuli’s lap dancer recipient Lt. McGarry lives in the city’s northern suburbs with his wife, Melissa, and their kids
A source told the New York Post McGarry, left, knew he ‘f***** up’ after the video of the lap dance went viral. His wife Melissa lunged at a reporter outside of their house following the news of his risque dance
The 44th Precinct’s annual holiday party charged $75 per person, and had a DJ and open bar
An investigation was launched by the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau into Mekuli’s antics. That investigation is using the state police body cameras that were worn during the incident, according to The Post.
Mekuli is an officer with the 44th Precinct in The Bronx. She became a cop in February 2021 and is on probationary status.
When the video of Mekuli straddling her superior officer, Lt. Nick McGarry, went viral, McGarry was reassigned to the transit police.
The video showed Mekuli in a black top, plaid miniskirt and knee-high boots grinding her backside on McGarry’s lap as he sits in a chair and holds onto her thighs.
Mekulih later apologized to McGarry’s wife, Melissa, after the lap dance that occurred at Rory Dolan’s bar in Yonkers on December 15
Mekuli also revealed she’s been working from home since the story emerged – and angrily told of how she’s felt ‘judged’ over the incident, which she says has been fueled by misogyny.
‘I want to apologize the lieutenant’s wife, you know, I am sorry, truly I am,’ she said in a video obtained by TMZ. ‘I hope it didn’t cause too much damage in the marriage or in your personal life.
‘I know it’s been rough,’ she continued. ‘It wasn’t meant to be like this, I really had no knowledge of your marriage.’
She claimed it was supposed to be for ‘s**ts and giggles’ and that ‘everyone had been having drinks,’ but it has led to embarrassment. The cop is now ‘working from home’ this week.
‘There’s a lot of judgment and shame that shouldn’t be there, even though there’s a lot of support.’
McGarry didn’t look so happy on Tuesday when he was spotted outside his home in New Windsor, New York, shortly after the lap dance video went viral
Lt. Nick McGarry was filmed smiling as a scantily-clad rookie officer gyrated on him
Mekuli also said that the ‘mile of area’ that her precinct patrols made her worry that people will recognize her and go: ‘Oh, that’s the girl, she gave the lap dance.’
‘My work me, my work self, and the off duty are two different people. I can still patrol and police the streets like I used to and the way anyone can. I feel like I shouldn’t be judged or anything of that sort because of a lap dance off duty, not in uniform.’
She also claimed she was judged harsher because she was a ‘woman’ and ‘not a man,’ and that her ‘rookie’ status also played a role. She claimed that if she was a man ‘it would have been more of a joking matter and remained in-house.’
In another video, the rookie cop turns around to face McGarry and straddles the 44th precinct commander as he grabs her by the waist.
In the video one onlooker yelled ‘Oh my God,’ and another appeared to hand the lieutenant a wad of cash
McGarry was reportedly reassigned to serve in Transit District 12 in the Bronx after the tawdry video surfaced
In the video, Mekuli appears carefree as she throws her hands in the air and dances on her superior to cheers from the crowd.
One onlooker, meanwhile, yelled ‘Oh my God,’ and another appeared to hand the lieutenant a wad of cash.
In a different scene, she grinds on a different man, who is bent over and facing the floor.
NYPD brass wasted no time in disciplining McGarry, who has been with the NYPD since 2010.
He was reportedly reassigned to serve in Transit District 12 in the Bronx after the tawdry video surfaced.
An unnamed source told the New York Post in the aftermath that he ‘knows he f***** up.’
‘Messing with your subordinate is a no-no on the job,’ the source said, adding that the rookie cop ‘doesn’t know any better because she just came on the job.
‘I can’t even tell you how many times they tell incoming supervisors that,’ he said, noting: ‘It sets a bad precedent.’
Following the news of Mekuli’s raunchy encounter with her boss, her father said she has been crying over the ordeal – and he now plans to sue.
The rookie’s dad told the Post on Monday that his daughter told him: ‘Daddy, I made some mistake. I’m very embarrassed about what I did. I embarrassed you and my family.’
The father said his daughter is ‘frustrated’ over the incident.
‘She cried and cried,’ he said. ‘She is young. She doesn’t know how but he is married, the lieutenant. He should know better.
‘I am going to sue them.’
There was further drama on Monday when Melissa McGarry yelled at a New York Post reporter and photographer outside the house in New Windsor, screaming ‘F*** you!’ at them as she was restrained by her husband.
‘It’s not worth it, get back in the car,’ the lieutenant told his fuming wife as she continued her rant.
Melissa McGarry told the press members: ‘There are other things to worry about in this world!’
As the couple drove away, Melissa McGarry took her hands off the steering wheel and flipped the bird to the reporter with both hands, screaming: ‘F*** you! F*** you! F*** you!’