A New York City police officer has pleaded not guilty after being accused of pointing his service weapon at a civilian employee inside police headquarters. Officer Quibbio Espinal appeared at 100 Centre Street, where he was arraigned on one count of second degree menacing and official misconduct, and entered his plea denying the charges.
The case centers on an incident at One Police Plaza on March 26 involving a civilian employee in the department's information security office. According to prosecutors, what unfolded that day inside the building has now led to criminal charges against a serving officer, putting the department's own headquarters at the heart of the matter.
Espinal is accused of pointing his loaded, department-issued gun at the female employee's face, and then placing the weapon on her desk in what authorities describe as an act of intimidation. The allegation that an officer aimed a firearm at a colleague in such a setting is at the core of the prosecution's case.
The employee did not stay silent. She immediately reported the incident to her supervisor, setting in motion the response that followed. Later that same day, Espinal was arrested and placed on modified duty, removing him from his normal responsibilities as the case moved forward.
The encounter also fits into a wider dispute. The same employee had sued the officer and the department, saying she endured years of sexual and racial harassment, framing the gun incident as part of a longer and more troubling history between the two and with her workplace.
Espinal's attorneys are pushing back forcefully. They say the two have a long history of a personal relationship, that he has text messages to prove it, and that he firmly denies all of the charges against him. They argue the case looks very different once that context is taken into account.
In their account, the central allegation simply did not occur. Espinal never at any time intended to, or did, point a gun at anyone, his lawyers insisted, rejecting the claim that he drew or aimed the weapon. With a not guilty plea now entered, the competing versions of what happened at One Police Plaza are set to be tested in court.