A former New York police officer running for a Hudson Valley House seat has been charged with falsely accusing a teenage girl

Alison Esposito was a New York police lieutenant in 2016 when she and her colleagues from a Manhattan gang unit went to an East Harlem apartment one night to arrest a suspect in multiple shootings.

They made that arrest. But they also handcuffed a 16-year-old girl and accused her of hitting and scratching Esposito. Those charges were dropped months later, and the city eventually paid $25,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the girl, who claimed Esposito had fabricated the assault claim against her.

Five years after that deal, Esposito is running as a Republican for Congress, seeking a House seat in the Hudson Valley region where she grew up. The bid, which follows an unsuccessful run for statewide lieutenant governor in 2022, builds on her 25-year career as a police officer who rose to the rank of precinct commander.

She will face Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan on Nov. 5 for New York's 18th Congressional District, which includes all of Orange County, most of Dutchess County and part of Ulster County.

Esposito’s campaign denies any wrongdoing in the 2016 arrest that led to a court settlement. But in emails about the case to USA Today, the Brooklyn attorney who represented the girl alleged serious misconduct by Esposito, starting with his illegal entry into the apartment without a warrant or the residents’ consent.

“Although the police did not have an arrest or search warrant and were expressly told they could not enter without one, Esposito entered the apartment,” attorney Andrew Miller said. “There was no emergency that justified Esposito’s action, she was simply frustrated by the delay and decided to act in violation of the law.”

Once inside, he said, Esposito immediately grabbed Rebecca Cuevas, 16, who was recording the encounter on her phone, and knocked the phone out of her hand. Cuevas “was then taken to the ground where she was handcuffed, only to be dragged by the hair” by Esposito, Miller said.

“Our position was that the arrest happened because she was filming the scene,” he said.

Conflicting accounts of what happened

Police gave a completely different version of events in their indictment. They said the teenager got between Esposito and the suspect she was trying to handcuff, then punched and scratched the officer, “causing redness and swelling to Lieutenant Esposito’s cheek and scratches to his neck.” Cuevas was charged with assault and one count of obstructing governmental administration.

Both charges were dropped less than five months later, according to the lawsuit filed by Cuevas and his mother in 2017. Their case included allegations of malicious prosecution, assault, civil rights violations and other offenses committed by Esposito and the police department. The case was settled for $25,000 in 2019.

Ben Weiner, Esposito's campaign manager, disputed Cuevas' attorney's version of events, calling it “absurd.”

“The reality is that Cuevas interfered with officers who were lawfully arresting her boyfriend — a violent gang member and drug dealer wanted for shooting a rival gang member three times,” Weiner said in an emailed response to USA Today.

He added that Esposito “fulfilled her responsibility to protect the community, a duty she faithfully fulfilled for 25 years.”

What does the video show?

Phone video Cuevas allegedly shot that night appears to corroborate his attorney's account of unauthorized entry.

The 29-second video, shared with USA Today for viewing but not published because Cuevas was a minor at the time, shows an apartment hallway and a partially open door as multiple voices repeatedly tell police they can't enter. “Without a warrant, you're not allowed in the house,” a male voice says twice, shortly before a police officer who appears to be Esposito pushes his way inside and toward the camera.

We then hear a hubbub of voices and chaotic camera movements before the video cuts off a few seconds later.

Weiner, Esposito’s campaign manager, did not respond directly when shown the video and asked whether Esposito and his group had a warrant to enter the home. “The only thing the video shows,” he said, “is Alison taking action to arrest a very dangerous gang member and get him off the street.”

Miller said the worst part of the incident for his client was having false charges “hanging over her head,” including a felony assault count that could have carried up to seven years in prison if convicted.

“At the time, Cuevas was 16 years old, about 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed only 90 to 100 pounds,” Miller wrote. “The idea that Cuevas assaulted the lieutenant (Esposito) is absurd. No one believed it. And of course the city paid.”

Campaign launch: Orange County native Alison Esposito launches congressional bid after 2022 statewide run

Who was the suspect the police were looking for?

The indictment says police went to the apartment to arrest Tysheem McGregor. According to court documents and published reports, McGregor is a member of the East Army gang in East Harlem and is linked to four shootings over turf disputes in 2015.

He was convicted of attempted murder and other charges in 2017, but the case took a bizarre turn when a juror admitted to having a romantic relationship with a prosecution witness. That led to the verdict being overturned on appeal and a lengthy retrial with a very different outcome.

In 2021, a new jury acquitted McGregor of all but the least serious charges, allowing him to walk free.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. He can be reached at [email protected].

This article was originally published on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Hudson Valley House candidate hit with lawsuit for wrongful arrest as New York police officer