Lawsuit claims officer accused of sending menacing text messages to herself had ‘sexual relationship’ with chief

OSSINING, N.Y. – Officer Emily Hirshowitz with the Ossining Police Department complained for months about receiving alarming text messages from her colleagues. However, investigators alleged she’d been the one sending them all along. She was subsequently arrested and charged in June with three counts of first-degree filing a false instrument, a felony, and four counts of third-degree falsely reporting an incident, Law Officer previously reported.

Now, a lawsuit filed by two former officers — Louis Rinaldi and Andrea Zambrano — claims Hirshowitz was involved in a sexual relationship with Ossining Village Police Chief Kevin Sylvester. She “was having an ongoing sexual relationship” with the top cop, the lawsuit claims, among other allegations, the New York Post reported.

Sylvester allegedly filed a complaint with the Westchester District Attorney’s Office in August 2022 over the threatening text messages Hirshowitz was purportedly receiving on her phone. He placed the blame on one of the former officers now suing the village, the lawsuit claims.

“Sylvester … conducted numerous interviews of police officers, directly asking each officer if they were aware the Officer [Louis] Rinaldi was sending the texts to Officer Emily Hirshowitz,” the lawsuit asserts.

Officer Emily Hirshowitz was arrested and charged last month with several crimes related to the text message scandal. (Ossining Police Department)

Sylvester blamed Rinaldi “despite having no evidence to support his accusations,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed by Rinaldi and Zambrano earlier this month. In the civil action, they accuse Sylvester of unfairly forcing both of them to resign from their positions in addition to interfering in their desire to land other law enforcement employment.

According to the lawsuit, Sylvester allegedly doled out a lighter punishment compared to discipline he previously imposed on the two plaintiffs tied to departmental charges, despite the criminal charges filed against Hirshowitz showing messages were tied to her.

“Sylvester told [village officials] that Hirshowitz had been set up by Plaintiffs Rinaldi and Zambrano and personally recommended she not be suspended without pay,” the lawsuit claims.

Although Hirshowitz was suspended, she allegedly did not forfeit pay, according to claims made by the plaintiffs, who say they were suspended without pay after facing internal departmental charges by Sylvester in recent years.

Rinaldi resigned in May and Zambrano resigned in July 2020.

The village’s lawyer, Brian Sokoloff, referred to the accusations in the lawsuit as “ludicrous.”

“Some (claims) are so ludicrous that you don’t dignify them with a denial,” Sokoloff told The Journal News. 

“It appears to me to be a lawsuit out of spite,” Sokoloff added. “Allegations are easy and talk is cheap.”

Law Officer article, July 3, 2023

OSSINING, N.Y. – A police officer in the State of New York was arrested after she reportedly sent herself menacing text messages and then blamed colleagues, according to the Westchester District Attorney’s Office.

Officer Emily Hirshowitz with the Ossining Police Department complained for months about receiving alarming text messages from her colleagues. She was taken into custody after investigators alleged she’d been the one sending them all along. Last Wednesday she was charged with three counts of first-degree filing a false instrument, a felony, and four counts of third-degree falsely reporting an incident, according to the Westchester Journal News.

The series of events began in May of 2022 when Hirshowitz filed a report with the DA’s office, saying she was receiving anonymous threatening text messages from multiple numbers. She claimed that “a fellow police officer or multiple police officers at my department are involved,” according to court documents obtained by the outlet, Yahoo News reported.

Emily Hirshowitz was charged at the Westchester District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday with falsely reporting an incident. (Ossining Police Department – Facebook)

Hirshowitz persistently pursued her allegations against fellow officers in July and then again in August when she gave investigators screenshots showing long expletive-filled messages urging her to commit suicide and calling her “useless,” a “dumb [expletive],” and a “reject,” the New York Post reported.

Law enforcement officials became alarmed by the alleged messages due to the “increasingly threatening content.” As a result, they also reached out to the district attorney’s office to investigate further.

However, on August 12, Hirshowitz said she wanted to drop the complaint.

Nevertheless, Chief Kevin Sylvester was understandably concerned, and called for a department-wide meeting to discuss the alleged disturbing messages.

(Ossining Police Department – Facebook)

As the inquiry unfolded, investigators began to believe the threatening messages were actually produced by Hirshowitz. In October they obtained a search warrant for her phone records and other electronic accounts.

The evidence quickly pointed to Hirshowitz as the culprit to her own menacing messages as they derived from several of her accounts. Hence, investigators concluded she had likely sent them to herself, according to prosecutors.

Hirshowitz was suspended with pay once she was officially charged with the crimes, the Post reported.

However, there was also another wrinkle in the investigation that appears unclear. The criminal complaint noted that somebody known to the prosecutor’s office appeared to have sent three of the text messages, although the person was not identified.

Louis Rinaldi resigned from the Ossining Police Department in the spring regarding a separate disciplinary matter. Rinaldi’s name has come up as a possible accomplice to Hirshowitz.

Hirshowitz has been employed by the Ossining Police Department since 2016. She previously served for two years in New Rochelle, according to Fox News.

“There’s a lot of mystery and confusion surrounding the allegations in this case and we’ll evaluate as we learn more,” said her attorney, Paul DerOhannesian.

Hirshowitz was released from custody following her arrest last week and is scheduled to appear in White Plains City Court on July 12, according to DerOhannesian.

Source: www.lawofficer.com