Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has brought felony charges against three NYPD officers for stealing bottles of JAY-Z’s Ace of Spades champagne at Electric Zoo in September 2022. Officers Jonathan Gonzalez and Wojciech Czech face one fourth-degree charge of grand larceny and one fourth-degree charge of criminal possession of stolen property. Additionally, Gonzalez as well as Officer Warren Golden are facing official misconduct.
The three detectives were in charge of narcotics at Electric Zoo. They saw three VIP attendees order bottles of Ace of Spades. When the group stepped away for a moment, the cops swiped $2,900 worth of the bottles. The attendees noticed that the bottles were gone and reported the theft to festival security.
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“In addition to the alleged theft that occurred, none of the Officers working at the event stepped up and stopped this activity,” Bragg said in a statement. “Public confidence in the criminal justice system depends on members of law enforcement acting with the utmost integrity while on duty and following the same rules that apply to everyone else.”
“As a result of the continuing joint investigation with the Internal Affairs Bureau and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, two NYPD officers were arrested and subsequently suspended from duty today,” the NYPD told Billboard. “The NYPD will continue to pursue the facts in this investigation and initiate further discipline where appropriate. It’s unclear which two detectives have been arrested.”
JAY-Z originally purchased the French champagne brand, which is also known as Armand de Brignac, alongside LVMH back in 2014. The Brooklyn rapper became hip-hop’s first billionaire back in 2019. Following Kanye West's recent split from Adidas, JAY-Z remains the only billionaire rapper as of 2023.
[Via]