A New York City police officer was arrested for allegedly stealing a safe packed with $50,000 in jewelry and cash from his childhood friend’s apartment, prosecutors and law enforcement sources said.
Officer Luis Triunfel, 33, was assigned to the department’s 28th Precinct in Central Harlem, authorities said.
The officer had allegedly targeted his friend before the break-in took place, prosecutors said. One day prior to the burglary, Triunfel used his NYPD-issued cell phone to run a search of the victim’s license plate, according to the district attorney’s office.
The heist occurred around 12:15 a.m. on Aug. 31 at a first-floor apartment on Boynton Avenue in Soundview, according to a Bronx Criminal Court complaint.
Triunfel allegedly raided the residence and took off with a shopping cart holding a single black metallic safe with a key lock, the complaint states.
The safe held about $9,500 in cash along with $38,500 in gold jewelry, according to court documents.
It also contained the victim’s passport, titles to his vehicles, his Social Security card and his U.S. permanent residency card, the court filing states.
Later that day, the officer returned to the Soundview apartment, prosecutors charged. He then allegedly damaged the video surveillance system that had captured the crime, according to the complaint.
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Triunfel subsequently used department databases to scour for updates on the investigation, prosecutors said. On Sept. 3 and Sept. 7, he allegedly accessed the system to look up the report on the heist, the complaint states.
On Monday, the suspect allegedly logged into the internal database again to search for his own name, according to the complaint.
He was arrested that same night, police said.
Police charged the officer with burglary, grand larceny, tampering with physical evidence and computer trespass, authorities said.
Triunfel had joined the NYPD in May 2024 before working in Central Harlem, officials said. He has since been suspended without pay from the NYPD, the department said.
The officer appeared in Bronx Criminal Court for his arraignment on Tuesday night, prosecutors said.
His attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.
Triunfel was released on his own recognizance, but a judge ordered him to surrender his passport, court records show.
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