An NYPD cop was busted last night on charges of breaking into his colleagues’ lockers in their station house and stealing guns that were sold on the street. Read more after the jump!!
Alleged gun-trafficking officer Nicholas Mina, 31, boosted four 9mm firearms from the seventh-floor locker room at the Ninth Precinct in the East Village, a law-enforcement source said yesterday.
Mina  a six-year veteran who worked midnight patrol tours  was assigned to guard the lockers as part of a 24-hour security detail created by department brass after the embarrassing thefts began in February.
“This is the lowest crime to steal from your fellow cops. Somebody you work with, you dress with, you change with,†said a retired cop who knows Mina. “To rob a gun that could be used against a fellow cop someday. There’s nothing lower.â€
It’s suspected that Mina brazenly sneaked one of the guns out of the tightly watched locker room on April 22, sources said. After that caper, a sergeant was assigned to guard duty and the heists stopped.
Police officials also installed a security camera to monitor the locker-room entrance, and added a second lock to each locker.
Along with the guns, bulletproof vests, cash and an iPad were lifted. Mina allegedly sold the weapons to buyers unaware that he was a cop.
After the NYPD Firearms Suppression Unit got a tip about illegal gun sales, it joined the Internal Affairs Bureau and the Manhattan DA to launch a probe.
Mina was arrested yesterday, as were his alleged civilian cohorts identified by sources as Ivan Chavez, 24; Meryl Lebowitz, 64, and Jennifer Sultan, 38. It’s not clear what roles the civilians who are not NYPD employees played.
All four were charged with offenses including criminal sale of a firearm.
Last night, IAB investigators descended on the station house and kicked all cops out of the locker room. It had been long suspected the gun thefts were an inside job.
-NYP
