An NYPD officer has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court accusing a transit district captain of persistent sexual harassment and accusing a deputy chief of pressuring her into silence about it.
Maria Delacruz, 33, alleges that Capt. Amanjeet Sandhu, who commanded Transit District 1 on the Upper West Side starting in January 2023, repeatedly made sexually explicit comments to her, commented on her body, and on one occasion attempted to kiss her in his departmental vehicle. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, says she pulled away and told him, “No, you are married. Are you crazy?”
Delacruz told The Post she stayed quiet initially out of fear of retaliation. “I didn’t feel like there was anyone I could go to,” she said.
According to the suit, Sandhu began regularly assigning Delacruz as his driver by March 2023 and increasingly directed comments at her appearance, including remarks about her “buttocks” and telling her, “If I was your man, I would slap that ass all the time.” She alleges he suggested she remove her bulletproof vest, stared at her chest, and described dreams about having sex with her. On one occasion, the suit says, she opened his office door and found him with his pants halfway down.
At a 2023 holiday party for Patrol Borough Midtown South at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, Delacruz alleges Sandhu grabbed her arm, told her “You’re coming with me tonight,” and continued gripping her painfully after she refused and said she was leaving with a friend.
Rumors and a transfer
By the summer of 2024, the lawsuit says, rumors about an alleged relationship between Delacruz and Sandhu had created a hostile atmosphere among coworkers, including an incident in which another officer confronted her, partly undressed, in the women’s locker room.
Delacruz says she raised the rumors directly with Deputy Chief Steven Mauriello of the Manhattan Transit Bureau on July 17, 2024, asking why he was telling people she was sleeping with Sandhu. He allegedly replied, “I’m not the only one saying that. Everyone here thinks that.”
When the Internal Affairs Bureau later interviewed her about the locker room incident, Delacruz says she intended 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 disclose the harassment to IAB and accepted the transfer, she said. Mauriello did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit says Sandhu’s conduct continued even after her transfer. In September 2024, he allegedly sent her a disappearing WhatsApp video showing explicit sexual content, to which she responded, “What the f–k?” He also allegedly asked how often she had sex and masturbated, and said, “I think I should buy you a dildo. How many dildos do you own?” In late 2024, he allegedly sent her a photo of a partially nude woman.
Sandhu, who earned $222,138 in 2025, did not return a request for comment. The NYPD said it has not yet been served with the lawsuit and will respond once it is.
Part of a wider pattern
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Eric Sanders against Sandhu, Mauriello, the police commissioner and others, seeks unspecified damages. It cites other recent NYPD harassment allegations, including a 2024 claim by retired Lt. Quathisha Epps that former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey paid her overtime in exchange for sex—an allegation Maddrey has denied, saying the relationship was consensual. The Department of Justice opened an investigation after that report; no charges have been filed. Also in 2025, NYPD Inspector Jeremy Scheublin was fired and arrested on felony charges including attempted rape of a subordinate; he has pleaded not guilty.
Delacruz has since been transferred to the Manhattan North Patrol borough in Harlem. She said she hopes speaking publicly will encourage other officers to come forward.
“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.”
