Cop accused of sending texts to herself saying she should commit suicide
A police officer has been arrested after being accused of sending threatening texts to herself in an attempt to frame a colleague.
Emily Hirshowitz, 36, from Ossining Police Department, filed a report with the District Attorney's office in May 2022, claiming to have received menacing texts from unknown numbers.
She said she believed fellow police officers were behind them and in the complaint wrote "a fellow police officer or multiple police officers at my department are involved".
In July and August that year she went on to make further complaints including providing screenshots of swearword-filled messages as evidence.
The messages called her "useless", "dumb" and a "reject".
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Others even suggested she should commit suicide.
Emily (L) has been accused of trying to frame colleagues (Facebook/Ossining Police Department)
Ms Hirshowitz with another dog (Facebook/Ossining Police Department)An investigation was launched and the District Attorney got involved over concerns of the "increasingly threatening content".
But by August Ms Hirshowitz seemed keen on the investigation being dropped but it continued with the higher ups wanting to resolve it.
Department wide meetings were held including the Police Chief and even the mayor of Ossining.
Investigators began to believe Ms Hirshowitz wasn't being honest and a search warrant was obtained for her cellphone and Apple iCloud accounts in October.
Evidence was found indicating she had access to the phone numbers where the threatening messages were coming from, prosecutors claim.
Ossining Police Department (Google Maps)She has now been charged with four counts of third-degree falsely reporting an incident and three counts of first-degree filing a false instrument at the Westchester District Attorney's Office.
The latter charge is a felony accusing her of intentionally filing a report to defraud.
Following the charges she was suspended without pay.
The criminal complaint stated that three of the messages appeared to have been sent by someone known to the DA's office but did not identify the individual.
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It is also believed Ms Hirshowitz may have had accomplices. Another former Ossining police officer, Louis Rinaldi, who had resigned previously over separate disciplinary charges, was also mentioned amid the charges.
Ms Hirshowitz was recognised as the 'Employee of the Year' by the local Rotary Club branch in 2018. (Facebook/Ossining Police Department)Ms Hirshowitz's attorney, Paul DerOhannesian, says more information is needed.
"There's a lot of mystery and confusion surrounding the allegations in this case and we'll evaluate as we learn more," said DerOhannesian to the New York Post.
Ms Hirshowitz will appear at the White Plains City Court on July 12.
Before joining the small Ossining Police Department in 2016 she worked at the New Rochelle PD and studied at Sacred Heart University.
She was recognised as the 'Employee of the Year' by the local Rotary Club branch in 2018.
Upon winning the award, she was described as having made "a big impact".
She ranked among the top officers when it came to arrests and vehicle & traffic enforcement.
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