U.S. federal agents search home of former top NYPD official

NEW YORK, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. federal agents on Thursday morning searched the home of Jeffrey Maddrey, the former chief of the New York Police Department (NYPD), NYC Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Maddrey, who resigned on Dec. 20 after a lieutenant accused him of coercing her into sex, is also being investigated by the department's Internal Affairs Bureau, which is working with law enforcement authorities in its inquiry, Tisch said in a statement posted on X.

Maddrey was suspended without pay Thursday morning as the search warrant was executed, the commissioner said. "Under the state's retirement system, there is a lag between the day a resignation is submitted and the date it becomes effective," noted The New York Times about the move.

The resignation of Maddrey, once a close ally of Mayor Eric Adams, spawned federal and local investigations into the former chief's conduct. Maddrey had demanded sex from a subordinate in exchange for overtime, according to a blog post by the officer's lawyer, Eric Sanders.