A New York City transit police officer has filed a lawsuit against an NYPD captain and a deputy chief, alleging she endured months of sexual harassment after rejecting her commander’s advances, followed by pressure from a superior to keep the misconduct out of an internal investigation.
Maria Delacruz, 33, filed the suit Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court against Capt. Amanjeet Sandhu, Deputy Chief Steven Mauriello, the police commissioner and others, seeking unspecified damages. Sandhu took command of Transit District 1 on the Upper West Side in January 2023 and, according to the suit, by March was regularly assigning Delacruz to serve as his driver.
The lawsuit alleges Sandhu told Delacruz he had fallen for her and wanted to be her lover rather than her supervisor, and that throughout 2023 he made repeated sexually explicit comments about her body, including remarks about her buttocks and breasts. On one occasion, Delacruz says she opened the door to his office and found him with his pants partway down; on another, during a drive, she alleges he tried to kiss her, and she pulled away, telling him, “No, you are married. Are you crazy?”
At the 2023 Patrol Borough Midtown South Christmas party in New Rochelle, Delacruz alleges Sandhu grabbed her arm and insisted she leave with him for the night. She says she refused and went home with a friend, but that he kept gripping her arm painfully.
“I didn’t feel like there was anyone I could go to,” Delacruz, a mother of an 8-year-old son, told the New York Post in an interview.
Rumors, confrontation and a transfer
By the summer of 2024, the lawsuit says, rumors about an alleged relationship between Delacruz and Sandhu had created a hostile workplace, including an incident in which another female officer confronted her in a locker room. Some coworkers reportedly raised the rumors with Deputy Chief Mauriello. When Delacruz confronted him directly, the suit says he told her, “I’m not the only one saying that. Everyone here thinks that.”
The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau later interviewed Delacruz about the locker room incident. She says she had planned to disclose the harassment, but that Mauriello pressured her not to, allegedly telling her, “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 did not tell investigators about the harassment and accepted the transfer. Mauriello did not respond to a request for comment from the Post.
The lawsuit alleges the harassment continued even after Delacruz moved to a new assignment. In September 2024, she says Sandhu sent her a disappearing WhatsApp message containing a pornographic video, and later asked her how often she had sex and masturbated. In late 2024, the suit says, he sent her a sexually explicit photo of a woman. Delacruz says she repeatedly told him to stop.
Sandhu, who earned $222,138 in 2025, did not respond to a request for comment. A police department spokesman said the NYPD has not yet been served with the lawsuit and would respond once it is.
Part of a broader pattern of allegations
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Eric Sanders, cites other recent sexual misconduct cases within the department. Retired Lt. Quathisha Epps alleged in 2024 that former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey paid her significant overtime in exchange for sex, prompting a Department of Justice investigation that has not resulted in charges; Maddrey has said the relationship was consensual. In 2025, Inspector Jeremy Scheublin was fired and charged with multiple felonies, including attempted rape of a subordinate, and has pleaded not guilty; a separate lawsuit alleges he told the officer he wanted to “make biracial babies” with her.
Delacruz has since transferred to the Manhattan North Patrol borough in Harlem. She said she hopes speaking out will encourage other officers to report 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.”
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