NYPD Detective’s Boss Terrorized Her With Dick Pics, Creepy Come-Ons, Lawsuit Alleges

A married NYPD detective claims her commanding officer subjected her to an unceasing barrage of harassment, from offering her a vacation day in exchange for her underwear to sending sexually explicit text messages and “pictures of his penis and napkins with ejaculate on it.”

The environment was so toxic, she feared for her family’s safety, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York State Supreme Court and obtained by The Daily Beast.

Det. Michelle Almanzar says she was effectively forced to let Capt. Brian Flynn’s behavior continue, “because when she tried to get him to stop, not only did she suffer, but he would often take his frustration out on her work partner as well as her team.”

Almanzar, a nine-year veteran assigned to the 50th Precinct in the Bronx, eventually became so anxious when she had to go near Flynn’s office, which was directly in line with the restroom, that she refused to go alone, the suit alleges.

“It’s a lot worse than it sounds,” Almanzar’s attorney, Leslee Schwartz, told The Daily Beast. “Believe me, I’ve seen the pictures.”

New York State Supreme Court

There are “at least two others” in the same situation as Almanzar, but they are “very fearful of coming forward,” Schwartz said, adding, “I implore them to come forward. If they want to reach out to me anonymously, that’s fine. But I really don’t want these women to think that they’ve done something wrong because of a creep.”

The alleged harassment, which Almanzar says began shortly after Flynn transferred to the 50th in April 2021, started out with “sexually inappropriate” text messages and “sexually charged” comments, according to the lawsuit.

Things then escalated, with Flynn texting Almanzar dick pics and worse, which she says “appeared to be taken in his office at the 50th precinct.” He allegedly asked Almanzar—who Schwartz says is married to a fellow police officer—to go out on dates with him, and “offered her special treatment as long as she continued to allow his advances; including one very specific instance whereby he text[ed] to her, ‘I was going to give you a Commander’s Day if you just gave me your panties.’”

“Plaintiff Almanzar did her best to ignore and/or redirect his attention, but that only seemed to make him more aggressive toward her,” the lawsuit states.

In response, Almanzar says in her complaint that she tried to block Flynn’s number on her phone. However, he simply lashed out at her by making her needlessly redo reports she had filed, and denying her requests for time off, Almanzar alleges. So, she says, she “would often permit him to send her sexually explicit texts,” for her career’s sake.

The harassment went on for a year-and-a-half, according to Almanzar, who says she continually told Flynn that she was not interested in having a sexual relationship with him. At one point, according to Almanzar’s lawsuit, an angry Flynn, “in an attempt to ‘show her who’s boss,’ posted signs around the floor [with] pictures of a ‘rat in a cop’s uniform with ‘Almanzar’ [written] on them.”

“She attempted to get away from him and she wasn’t permitted to, because of whatever comments he made [to others in the department about Almanzar],” Schwartz told The Daily Beast. “He blocked it, nobody would take her. The Bronx Warrant Division is not a piece of cake, she’s a cop, through-and-through… My client never had an affair, and never did anything except to try to get him not to punish her.”

Reuters/Idrees Latif

Last November, Almanzar decided she had had enough. She reported Flynn to the NYPD’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) office, and turned over her phone to investigators. Flynn was then transferred out of the 50th Precinct, but Almanzar says she was never informed “as to what he had been told, despite the fact she was extremely fearful for her safety as well as that of her family, should Defendant Captain Flynn be told it was because of her complaint.”

“Obviously, today he knows,” Schwartz said on Wednesday.

Since she accused Flynn of being a harasser, Almanzar “has been kept completely away from any investigation, except to learn ‘through the grapevine’ that Defendant Captain Flynn was facing discipline for something completely unrelated to her complaints,” her lawsuit states.

Almanzar’s husband, who is assigned to a different precinct elsewhere in the city, has also had a rough go of things in light of her situation, according to Schwartz.

“People talk,” she said. “And the talk wasn’t truthful.”

On Jan. 9, Almanzar informed the NYPD she would be suing the department, Flynn, and a group of unnamed sergeants at the 50th. A day later, the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB) asked Almanzar to meet with them. After the meeting, which Schwartz attended with her, Almanzar says in her suit that she went back to the 50th, where one of the sergeants yelled at her in front of a group of other cops.

“You couldn’t just keep him happy, now look, we are all under the microscope,” the sergeant said, according to Almanzar, who asked the officer—a mandated reporter, under the law—why he never reported the harassment himself.

“We figured you liked it,” the sergeant allegedly replied.

Almanzar, who remains on the job, is now seeking damages of an undetermined amount, plus interest, attorney’s fees, legal costs, and “any other relief the Court deems just.”

Schwartz noted that Flynn also remains employed by the NYPD, and said, “We have no knowledge of him being disciplined.” She said there is more to the story that “we’re not ready to divulge,” and that she’ll have to wait to know when that will be.

“I want to see how this hits first, and what, if any, retribution will be aimed towards [Almanzar],” she said. “So for now, there are things that will still be kept under wraps for safety purposes… My client did not want to sue, but nobody wanted to talk to us. Nobody wanted to deal with it. The new commissioner put out a whole booklet on how her department was supposed to deal with [these sorts of complaints]. Not one thing in that booklet was done.”

On Tuesday, an NYPD civilian employee filed suit against a lieutenant she claims sexually assaulted her and threatened to throw her in front of a train if she ever said anything about it. Earlier this year, the official in charge of preventing workplace harassment in the NYPD was reportedly fired for sexually harassing a subordinate.

Flynn does not have a lawyer listed in court records and was unable to be reached for comment. In an emailed statement, the NYPD declined to comment on pending litigation, saying, “The Department does not tolerate sexual harassment and is committed to respectful work environments for our diverse workforce. The NYPD thoroughly investigates all complaints it receives, and offers several reporting options for NYPD employees, including anonymously.”