An NYPD commander transformed his precinct into what a lawsuit describes as a hostile, sexually charged environment, allegedly enlisting a jealous group of officers against a female colleague who rebuffed his repeated advances.
Maria Delacruz, 33, claims Capt. Amanjeet Sandhu, who led Transit District 1 on the Upper West Side in 2023, “declared his love” for her and said he wanted to become her lover instead of remaining her supervisor. The allegations appear in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Delacruz says she initially stayed silent because she feared Sandhu would retaliate against her over the alleged sexual harassment.
“I didn’t feel like there was anyone I could go to,” Delacruz, a mother of an 8-year-old son, told The Post in an exclusive interview.
According to the lawsuit, Sandhu assumed command in January 2023 and began regularly assigning Delacruz to serve as his driver by March.
The suit alleges that Sandhu’s conduct escalated throughout 2023, as he increasingly directed sexually explicit remarks at Delacruz.
He allegedly commented on her “breasts, buttocks, face, eyes and body,” described her as a Latina with large buttocks and made repeated references to her “booty,” according to the complaint.
“If I was your man, I would slap that ass all the time,” Sandhu allegedly told her, according to the lawsuit filed by attorney Eric Sanders.
As the alleged behavior continued, Delacruz reportedly spent entire shifts either in Sandhu’s office or accompanying him in his department vehicle.
The lawsuit says Sandhu would make comments such as, “That ass is huge!” whenever Delacruz rose to leave his office.
He also allegedly urged her to take off her bulletproof vest, then stared at her breasts and bit his lip while she spoke to him, according to the complaint.
Delacruz further claims Sandhu told her about dreams in which the two were having sex.
Fed up with the remarks about her body, Delacruz allegedly confronted him, saying, “What the f–k? Stop.” The comments did not end, according to the suit.
On another occasion, Delacruz says she opened the door to Sandhu’s office and found him with his pants partly lowered. When he noticed her standing there, he allegedly told her to come inside.
The lawsuit states that Sandhu was wearing white underwear and a tank top, and that Delacruz could see the outline of his penis through the underwear.
The suit also describes an incident in 2023 when Sandhu instructed Delacruz to accompany him on a drive and allegedly tried to kiss her without her consent.
“Delacruz immediately pulled away and pushed him back, declaring ‘No, you are married. Are you crazy?’” the complaint states.
Sandhu allegedly told her he wanted her to view him “as a lover” and suggested he would leave his wife to be with her, according to the lawsuit.
Later that year, at the Patrol Borough Midtown South Christmas party at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, Sandhu allegedly grabbed Delacruz by the left arm and pulled her toward him.
“You’re coming with me tonight,” he allegedly said, insisting that they leave together and sleep together. Delacruz refused, telling him she planned to go home with a friend, but claims Sandhu continued to grip her arm painfully.
By the summer of 2024, sexual rumors about Delacruz and Sandhu “had contributed to serious workplace hostility” with other cops — including a confrontation in which she was half-naked in the women’s locker room when another female officer accused her of “f—ing the captain,” according to the suit.
Some of her coworkers brought complaints about the alleged relationship to Deputy Chief Steven Mauriello, at the Manhattan Transit Bureau, according to the suit.
Delacruz, who insists that she never had a sexual relationship with Sandhu, confronted Mauriello in his office on July 17, 2024, according to the suit.
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“Why are you going around saying I’m sleeping with Sandhu?” she asked him.
He responded, “I’m not the only one saying that. Everyone here thinks that,” according to the lawsuit.
The Internal Affairs Bureau interviewed Delacruz over the locker room dust-up. She planned to tell the IAB investigators about the harassment, but Mauriello allegedly pressured her to keep that part out.
“If you just keep it to what happened in the locker room, I will make sure you get transferred to wherever you want to go,” she said he told her, according to the lawsuit.
Delacruz did not tell IAB about the sexual harassment and took the transfer, she said. Maurello didn’t return The Post’s message seeking comment.
“Rather than obtain meaningful protection, Delacruz found herself pressured to leave TD1,” according to the lawsuit — which seeks unspecified damages — against Sandhu, Mauriello, Police Commissioner and others.
Sandhu continued his alleged campaign of harassment and in September 2024, after her transfer, he sent her a disappearing WhatsApp message featuring a porn video, according to the suit.
“The pornographic video depicted a dark-haired woman positioned over a naked man lying on his back with an erect penis, which she manually stimulated,” according to the suit.
Delacruz was taken aback.
“She reacted with shock and disgust, responding ‘What the f–k?’” the suit states.
In another message after she transferred, he wrote, “I think I should buy you a dildo. How many dildos do you own?” according to the suit.
He also questioned how frequently Delacruz had sex, how many times she got “f–ked,” and how often she masturbated, according to the lawsuit
Delacruz repeatedly objected, including telling him, “Enough. Stop asking those questions. That’s my personal business,” according to the lawsuit.
In late 2024, Sandhu sent her a photo of a woman wearing a thong with her breasts exposed and legs open, the suit states.
Sandhu, who made $222,138 in 2025, didn’t return The Post’s call seeking comment.
The cop’s claims are the latest sexual harassment and abuse allegations at the NYPD, the lawsuit points out.
Retired NYPD Lt. Quathisha Epps alleged in 2024 that former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey paid her a shocking amount of overtime for sex, a scandal first exposed by The Post.
The Department of Justice opened an investigation after the report but no charges have been filed. Maddrey maintained the relationship was consensual and denied any quid pro quo.
In 2025, NYPD Inspector Jeremy Scheublin was fired after being arrested on multiple felony charges, including attempted rape of a female subordinate. Scheublin has pleaded not guilty.
The female cop filed a lawsuit alleging that Scheublin, commanding officer of the 46th Precinct at the time, told her “I want to make biracial babies with you” while attacking her in his stationhouse office in Fordham Heights in The Bronx, The Post reported exclusively.
The NYPD hasn’t been served with the Delacruz lawsuit yet and will respond to it when they receive it, a spokesman said.
Delacruz, who has since been transferred to Manhattan North Patrol borough in Harlem, said she hopes her story will convince other female cops to come forward about alleged abuse.
“I want to make sure that girls are not getting sexually harassed and feel safe to speak up,” Delacruz said. “I would like to be that supervisor that someone could come to and actually feel comfortable enough to tell me what’s going on.”