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NYC cop impersonator stole wine before commandeering bus

This wasn’t the first time that the man, a civilian NYPD worker, had impersonated an officer

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By Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News

NEW YORK — The civilian NYPD worker who dressed up as a cop and demanded a Manhattan-bound MTA bus take him to Brooklyn stole a bottle of wine before his Thanksgiving charade, officials said Friday.

Joseph McGreevy, 61, took the booze from the Lower Manhattan hotel where he was staying before climbing aboard an X28 express bus at Canal St. and Sixth Ave. in Tribeca around 1 p.m. Thursday.

McGreevy, dressed in full NYPD attire including a brass star, told the driver to take him to Brooklyn, even though the bus was heading in the opposite direction, said MTA sources.

There was no one else on the bus at the time, the sources said.

The spooked bus driver started to take McGreevy to Brooklyn, but flagged down a cop en route. The officer quickly determined that McGreevy was not a real cop and took him into custody.

McGreevy was charged with criminal impersonation, obstruction of government administration and petit larceny for the stolen wine, police said.

His arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court was pending Friday.

McGreevy had been an NYPD administrative aide working out of the 1st Precinct station house in Tribeca but it wasn’t clear if he was still employed by the department.

He put his career in jeopardy last month after he dressed up like a cop, approached a mounted horse unit in Midtown, flashed a badge and told officers he was with the NYPD, said authorities.

When officers asked McGreevy for a picture ID, he fled.

He was arrested Oct. 30 and charged with unlawful impersonation and reckless endangerment, among other charges.

McGreevy is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 20 for that case, court records show.

(c)2020 New York Daily News

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