Cops: Dirty cop busted plotting to rob drug dealer of $1 million cash

Cops: Dirty cop busted plotting to rob drug dealer of $1 million cash
The New York Daily News by THOMAS ZAMBITO AND ALISON GENDAR  - May 13, 2009

A dirty city cop was caught on tape plotting to rob a drug dealer's apartment and steal almost a million bucks hidden in a closet, authorities said. Shawn Jenkins, 41, was arrested Wednesday at the Manhattan apartment and charged with attempted robbery. He was held on $200,000 bond after arraignment. A 15-year veteran with the NYPD, Jenkins told a confidential informant he had once worked as a body guard for the dealer - who was busted in 2002 and deported to the Dominican Republic in 2008. Jenkins claimed the dealer stashed $900,000 in drug money under a closet floor before he was shipped out and sent him a letter with a map of the Broadway apartment, authorities said. The problem was Jenkins needed help getting into the apartment, so he wanted the informant to help him serve an official-looking summons on the current tenant and zap him with a stun gun, officials said. He gave the snitch a pilfered NYPD form - called a "Statement of Personal Service" - to be used in the illegal operation. But the informant ratted out Jenkins - and NYPD Internal Affairs and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had tape rolling as the plot progressed. Jenkins allegedly called his would-be partner on Tuesday and told him the robbery was set for that night. He was busted when he showed up at the apartment on Broadway in Washington Heights. He was hit with a slew of felony charges at an arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Eaton. Jenkins was almost been fired from the NYPD in 2000 after being found guilty of departmental charges he failed to secure a prisoner and stay alert on duty, sources said. He was placed on dismissal probation for a year, but stayed out of trouble and kept his job. He was transferred from Manhattan's 26 Precinct to the 23rd Precinct in Upper Manhattan, where he was writing highway summonses until his arrest.