On Wednesday (July 16), former New York Police Department commissioner Thomas Donlon filed an explosive 251-page federal lawsuit against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other former and current NYPD officials, claiming that “A coordinated criminal conspiracy had taken root at the highest levels of City government — carried out through wire fraud, mail fraud, honest services fraud, obstruction of justice and retaliation against whistleblowers.”
The lawsuit contains a few detailed accusations, beginning with former NYPD spokesperson Tarik Sheppard, who Donlon claimed abused the promotion process in the department to falsely elevate his rank and that of other Adams loyalists by using Donlon’s own signature stamp without permission on a promotion memo. Donlon complained to Adams, and the tension with Sheppard resulted in Donlon being nearly assaulted at the New York City Marathon by Sheppard during a publicity photo shoot.
Donlon also claims that he was subject to sabotage by NYPD Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Maddrey and others loyal to Adams, and that they also served as “spies” reporting whatever he did. He also claimed that they targeted his wife after a traffic incident orchestrating her being arrested falsely, including her being chained to a wall in the precinct and bodily searched “like a common criminal,” and accused senior NYPD officials of not protecting evidence in criminal investigations properly.
Donlon briefly served as commissioner beginning in September 2024 after the resignation of Edward Caban, who resigned after having his phone seized by federal agents as part of a corruption investigation. He would be transferred into a senior advisory role two months later, and that position would be eliminated by City Hall staff in April of this year. It’s the second such lawsuit against Mayor Adams in a little over a week – the first was filed by four former NYPD chiefs who also allege that investigations into the top officers of the department were stopped.
“These are baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee who — when given the opportunity to lead the greatest police department in the world — proved himself to be ineffective,” said City Hall spokesperson Kayla Memelak Altus in a statement. Donlon sent out his own statement with the lawsuit, saying: “This lawsuit is not a personal grievance; it is a statement against a corrupt system that betrays the public, silences truth, and punishes integrity.”
Ex-NYPD Chief Files Explosive Lawsuit Against Mayor Adams
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