Two NYPD police officers have recently been charged with sexually abusing an intoxicated woman at a Bronx bar in 2023. The incident occurred while the officers were off-duty. The officers accused are Christian Garcia, 32, and Julio Alcantara-Santiago, 40, both were arrested Tuesday morning, according to CBS News.
Prosecutors state that Garcia and Alcantara-Santiago were caught on surveillance cameras walking with the heavily intoxicated victim out of a restaurant and bar in the Bronx known as “Zona de Cuba” around 12:30 a.m. on July 9, as per CBS News. The off-duty officers were observed on either side of her holding her arms up as they walked out of the restaurant as she was visibly unable to stand.
Subsequently, the officers drove the woman to an apartment building and carried her inside the complex. The officers were accused of raping the intoxicated female in the complex. According to CBS News, both officers pleaded not guilty and have posted bail. Both were suspended without pay.
The officers were charged with the following: Criminal sexual act in the first degree, Sexual abuse in the first degree, Sexual abuse in the third degree, Sexual misconduct, and Forcible touching, according to PIX 11 News. The victim told investigators that she remembers waking up in a stranger’s bedroom and apartment while the two offices were assaulting her.
The victim said she heard Garcia say: “Let’s go bro, she’s waking up.” Furthermore, DNA from both officers was discovered on the victim’s body after being tested at a nearby hospital that same morning, according to PIX 11 News. In addition to the DNA test, doctors also swabbed and extracted the victim’s saliva and found DNA from both men within it, as per the New York Post.
For one of the officers, Julio Alcantara-Santiago, this isn’t his first time getting arrested for sexual misconduct as in 2022 of groping a woman, as stated by News 12. Alcantara-Santiago was held on a $50,000 cash bail or $75,000 bond. Garcia was held on a $30,000 cash bail or $70,000 bond, as per the New York Daily News.
