Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Eric Diaz, 43, of Brentwood, was sentenced to two to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty in October to possessing multiple fraudulent NYPD identification cards and impersonating a police officer in order to receive a discount while shopping at a store in Bay Shore.
“When individuals attempt to impersonate law enforcement officers, they damage the credibility of the honest men and women who are the true enforcers of the law and risk their lives every day as part of their duties,” said District Attorney Tierney. “This defendant attempted to wrongfully benefit from the public service of our sworn law enforcement members and now he’s going to benefit from our correctional facilities as an inmate.”
According to the investigation and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, between April 1, 2023 to May 31, 2023, Diaz identified himself as a police officer and displayed what appeared to be a police badge, handcuffs, and handgun while attempting to obtain a “police discount” at a retail store in Bay Shore. When Diaz was later stopped by police, he was found to be in possession of a holstered electronic stun gun and multiple fraudulent law enforcement identification cards, including a fake NYPD Sergeant identification card. Pursuant to subsequent searches of Diaz’s vehicle and home, police recovered numerous fraudulent items of police attire, imitation pistols, a gun belt, a bulletproof vest, and handcuffs.
On August 15, 2023, Diaz was arrested by Detective Charles Gambino of the Suffolk County Police Department’s District Attorney’s Squad.
On October 11, 2023, Diaz pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro, to Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a Class D felony. On November 13, 2023, Judge Ambro sentenced Diaz to two to four years in prison. He was represented by the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katharine D’Aquila of the Public Corruption Bureau, with investigative assistance from Detective Charles Gambino of the District Attorney’s Squad.
Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.