QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) – An NYPD officer was caught on camera allegedly planting evidence during a sting operation.
He now faces charges of perjury and misconduct, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Tuesday.
Miguel Vanbrakle, 48, is facing charges of perjury, tampering with physical evidence, lying under oath, and falsifying documents related to a weapons case, along with additional charges, according to court documents.
“As alleged, this officer was sworn to uphold the law and instead planted evidence in a gun possession case, perjured himself, and lied on official documents,” DA Katz said. “As a result of the defendant’s alleged actions, an individual had felony gun charges pending against him for more than a year.”
In 2023, Vanbrakle was a member of an NYPD team that conducted a court-authorized search of a Cambria Heights residence to locate firearms and other evidence.
According to documents, Vanbrakle allegedly planted evidence to wrongly link the discovery of a gun to a person listed on the search warrant.
Vanbrakle then testified before a grand jury and, in official documents, stated that he recovered a loaded revolver and a benefit card from a safe belonging to the warrant target during the search. However, the homeowner, the target’s fiancée, claimed the gun was hers, not her fiancé’s, according to court documents.
Later, a review of body-worn camera footage showed that Vanbrakle allegedly emptied a shoebox in the living room, took a benefit card from it, and placed it in the safe where the gun was found. The person listed on the search warrant was then wrongfully indicted on felony weapon possession and other charges, according to court documents.
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The charges were later dismissed, DA Katz said.
Vanbrakle is scheduled to return to court on Feb 23.
If convicted of the numerous crimes, the defendant faces up to seven years in prison.
Matthew Euzarraga is a multimedia journalist from El Paso, Texas. He has covered local news and LGBTQIA topics in the New York City Metro area since 2021. He joined the PIX11 Digital team in 2023. You can see more of his work here.
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