Top NYPD Cop Commits Suicide over Reichberg and Rechnitz Investigation !Warned Pals To Cut Ties With Orthodox Jewish Community

Groiseh Tzuris ...Chillul Hashen sh'ein kamohuh

The NYPD officer who took his own life on Friday afternoon had reportedly taken steps to distance himself from some members of Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community according to a New York Post report.

 Inspector Michael Ameri, commanding officer of the NYPD’s Highway Patrol, was found in his unmarked police car on Friday afternoon. 

The 44 year old divorced father of a teenage son apparently took his own life near the Bergen Point Golf Course three miles from his home in West Babylon according to The Daily News. 

Police said that Ameri, who had been with the NYPD since 1993, died of a gunshot wound to the head and that no suicide note was found at the scene.

It was during his tenure as the commanding officer of the NYPD’s 78th Precinct, which includes both Gowanus and Park Slope, that Ameri first met Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Park Slope resident.  Ameri was photographed chatting with the mayor and his wife at the 2014 Pride Parade in Park Slope and de Blasio released a statement expressing his sadness at Ameri’s passing.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time,” said de Blasio.

Sources said that many in the NYPD, including Ameri, have been particularly worried about the corruption probe.  Ameri’s name surfaced in the ongoing probe in early April but at the time, the career cop did not appear overly concerned. 

He had been interviewed twice by investigators about having possibly given preferential treatment to Jeremy Reichberg and Jonah Rechnitz.  Officers from the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau raided the Highway Patrol Unit office on Thursday in connection with the investigation, taking police escort logs from the office.

The corruption probe is said to be concluding soon, with possible criminal charges and other changes expected at high levels within the NYPD.  One source said that Ameri might have been facing departmental charges but not criminal ones.

Ameri took over as commanding officer of the highway unit in July 2014, bringing with him a close friend from the 78th Precinct, Lieutenant Michael Fargo.