An NYPD sergeant was facing federal charges Tuesday for impersonating an ICE agent and demanding a woman he met online report with her family to an immigration facility — a hoax he carried out in revenge for her rebuffing his advances, according to police sources.
The Brooklyn Federal Court indictment alleges Sgt. Atickul Islam, 29, who also goes by the name “James W. Anderson,” claimed to be the New York field office director for ICE when he contacted the victim on March 29.
He demanded the victim and her family report to an ICE location in New York City by April 15, prosecutors allege.
Police sources say he met the victim online, then impersonated an ICE official after it became clear she wasn’t interested in him.
One police source said he was off duty during the activity, but when the NYPD caught wind of it the department opened an Internal Affairs Bureau probe and brought in the feds. A court filing says the crime took place in Queens.
NYPD Sgt. Atickul Islam (second from left in gray puffer jacket) leaves Brooklyn Federal Court on Tuesday. (John Annese / New York Daily News)
Islam was arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday afternoon on a single count of false personation of an officer or employee of the United States — a charge that carries a maximum three-year sentence if he’s convicted at trial.
Islam pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer, John Arlia, said his client “absolutely is adamant about fighting the charges.”
Islam joined the NYPD in 2018 and became a sergeant in 2023.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Schuman asked Magistrate Judge Taryn Merkl to order Islam not to contact the victim and their family or come within a block of their home, a request the judge granted.
Merkl released Islam on $25,000 bond and ordered he surrender any firearms.
Arlia declined comment Tuesday, and Islam didn’t answer questions as he left court.
NYPD Sgt. Atickul Islam (second from left in gray puffer jacket) leaves Brooklyn Federal Court on Tuesday. (John Annese / New York Daily News)
Islam, who made more than $155,000 this year according to public records, has been suspended from the NYPD without pay for 30 days and will remain indefinitely suspended until the criminal case is resolved, his lawyer said in court Tuesday.
Islam’s arrest comes as masked ICE agents have targeted New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and other major cities as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
Earlier this month, the FBI issued a law enforcement bulletin urging agents to identify themselves because criminals have been impersonating ICE officials, Wired reported. The bulletin listed five incidents this year involving ICE impersonators, including a February incident in Brooklyn where a man is accused of posing as an ICE agent as he beat, robbed and tried to rape a 51-year-old Hispanic woman.
With Thomas Tracy