(The Center Square) — An ex-NYPD commissioner has appealed a federal court’s rejection of his lawsuit against former Mayor Eric Adams, which claimed the Democrat ran the city’s police force like a “criminal enterprise” and retaliated against his critics.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York dismissed the legal challenge filed by former interim NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon alleging corruption and malfeasance.
Dolon’s attorney, John Scola, appealed the ruling Wednesday night. He issued a statement saying he believes an appeals court will overturn Cote’s decision.
“Mr. Donlon’s claims are detailed, evidence-based and consistent with facts that have continued to emerge from ongoing federal investigations,” Scola said.
The City Law Department late Wednesday filed a brief urging the appeals court to reject Donlon’s amended complaint and appeal.
Donlon’s lawsuit claimed the NYPD was “a racketeering enterprise,” under the leadership of Adams and other members of his administration, including Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry, Chief of Department John Chell and former Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard, who were also named in the complaint.
“Senior leadership had abandoned lawful governance and engaged in outright malfeasance by using the NYPD to consolidate political power, obstruct justice, and punish dissent,” Donlon’s lawyers wrote in the 251-page complaint. “The Defendants engaged in a coordinated pattern of racketeering activity that was deliberate, sustained, and directed from the highest levels of the NYPD and City Hall.”
The lawsuit also accused Adams and other defendants of engaging in “a calculated and deeply personal act of vengeance,” including the “false” arrest of Donlon’s wife during a traffic stop where she was unable to produce her vehicle’s registration.
Adams tapped Donlon to head the NYPD in 2024 after then-commissioner Edward Caban resigned the post following an FBI search of his home. Caban hasn’t been charged with any crimes.
Donlon’s lawsuit comes after four former NYPD officials filed a similar legal challenge earlier this month, claiming corruption and cronyism by top brass in the city’s police department.
