Cop who 'sold strong fentanyl & heroin' was previously sued for excessive force
A New York police officer accused of selling strong fentanyl and heroin was previously sued for excessive force, court papers have revealed.
The veteran cop Grace Rose Baez, 37, was arrested last week alongside Cesar Martinez, 42, and charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics and distribution of narcotics. Officials said the pair attempted to sell the drugs to a federal informant earlier this month. Now court papers have revealed she was already on NYPD's radar.
In 2016, Baez was sued for excessive force and false arrest following an incident on January 6, 2014. The incident, which happened on West 125th Street, resulted in a civil rights case which was settled in Manhattan federal court for $30,000.
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The incident occurred as a crew of cops are said to have cleared the El Puerto Seafood restaurant in the early hours of the morning. The lawsuit claimed the foot of 27-year-old Shawn Young was fractured during the incident. According to prosecutors, Young and another man were arguing inside the restaurant, and Young repeatedly tried to re-enter the restaurant. Prosecutors also said he refused to put his hands behind his back and get into the cop car.
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She had been on desk duty since 2020 (Instagram/graciela_rose)But that wasn't the only incident. In 2019, she was once again accused of using excessive force, however records show the complaint did not follow through, the NYPost reports. Baez was later put on modified duty in 2020 after she was accused of misconduct, however nothing else is known about this incident.
One Manhattan cop has slammed how Baez was not caught sooner. They said: "She was already modified. They should have caught this. It's not like she was selling popcorn. We're talking about a drug dealer. They should have been looking at her more extensively. . . . The dangerous thing is she was out here selling fentanyl, which is killing people. It’s like, who was supervising her?"
She 'sold high grade fentanyl' (U.S. Attorney Southern District of New York)Baez, of the Bronx, is said to have given the informant a sample of what she called "top quality" fentanyl in a Mentos container on Tuesday, October 17, according to officials. She then reportedly told the informant she could sell them a kilo of heroin for $25,000 (£20,500) and 800 grams of fentanyl with pricing to be negotiated later based on the drug's purity.
It's alleged Baez, who has been an officer since 2012, had multiple meetings with the informant. Baez met with the informant in Yonkers where she handed over packages containing suspected narcotics including a total of 1.4kg of heroin and 640g of fentanyl labelled 640 Manzana. She was arrested that day.
She was 'caught selling drugs to an informant' (U.S. Attorney Southern District of New York)
She had previously boasted about her job (Instagram/graciela_rose)Baez quit the force last week following her arrest. She is currently under house arrest with an electronic monitoring device. She was charged along with boyfriend Cesar Martinez with conspiracy to distribute narcotics and distribution narcotics, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.
After her arrest, officers went to the Yonkers home she shared with Martinez where they found a package of suspected narcotics being thrown out of the apartment. Once inside the apartment, they discovered a kilogram press machine as well as additional narcotics that Martinez had allegedly attempted to throw outside.
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