Who is Miguel Delacruz? NYPD cop illegally recorded Valentina Veleva, 35, giving oral sex to blackmail her
QUEENS, NEW YORK CITY: The New York Police Department (NYPD) and the city of New York are being sued by Valentina Veleva who has been waiting for action for a couple of years against a cop who also happens to be her offender. She claimed that off-duty cop Miguel Delacruz recorded her at his apartment during their one-night stand and threatened to release the tapes if she spoke to anyone about it.
The victim from Queens had alleged that she was filmed by Delacruz while giving him oral sex, a clipping of which she received on her phone the next morning by the cop along with a warning to keep the incident undercover. Veleva went to the cops anyway and a probe was opened in this case in October 2019 by the city's Department of Investigation.
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Who is Miguel Delacruz?
Delacruz works as a patrol officer for the NYPD, a spokesperson for the DOI confirmed. He hooked up with Veleva at his Jackson Heights apartment on March 13, 2017, and while everything they did was consensual, but the shocking recording wasn't. "He told me he had cameras that recorded my ass and I better keep my mouth shut," Veleva said in an interview. She also revealed that Delacruz had also revealed to her that he had recorded other women in the past as well.
Veleva suffered “humiliation, anxiety, terror, and paranoia that Delacruz either already disseminated this … or that he soon would,” according to court documents. She alleged that Delacruz made fun of her and told her she was the "50th girl that he recorded."
Veleva immediately reported the threat to her local police station, the NYPD's 114th Precinct and a referee granted her an order of protection against Delacruz who was also ordered to turn in any firearms in his possession, however, no criminal charges were brought upon him, according to court documents.
Veleva said she has “continued to call” the DA’s office and has written to DA Melinda Katz but has been “mocked and treated unprofessionally by high-level members of the Queens County District Attorney’s Office who have called her credibility into question,” the court documents allege. Veleva also said there was a conflict of interest as the NYPD Seargeant who was handling the matter was being investigated by the DA's office at the same time. He was arrested on September 12, 2018, during a major bust of cops allegedly involved in a gambling and prostitution ring.
“It is disgusting how the NYPD and the Queens DA mishandled this case from the beginning, and they continue to victimize this young lady by refusing to take her complaint seriously. We are seeking to correct that now," lawyer Joe Murray said about Veleva who is suing for unspecified damages.
“We take every complaint of this nature very seriously, and Ms Veleva’s was no exception. This matter was thoroughly and carefully reviewed before investigators determined there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a criminal case,” a Queens DA spokesperson said while a spokesperson for the city's law department said, "we'll review the case."