NYPD Officer Maria Delacruz is suing her former precinct commander, alleging he turned their workplace into a hostile environment after she rejected his advances.
Delacruz, 33, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court against Capt. Amanjeet Sandhu, who commanded Transit District 1 on the Upper West Side starting in January 2023. The suit also names Deputy Chief Steven Mauriello, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and the city as defendants.
By March 2023, Sandhu had begun regularly assigning Delacruz to serve as his driver, according to the suit. The assignments escalated until she was spending entire shifts in his office or accompanying him in his departmental vehicle.
The captain’s comments grew increasingly explicit throughout the year. He allegedly remarked on her “breasts, buttocks, face, eyes and body,” calling her “a Latina with large buttocks” and making repeated comments about her “booty.” Sandhu, who earned $222,138 in 2025, also told her about “dreams in which he was having sex with her,” according to the suit filed by attorney Eric Sanders.
“If I was your man, I would slap that ass all the time,” Sandhu allegedly told her.
When Delacruz stood to leave his office, he would comment, “That ass is huge!” the suit states. He also allegedly suggested she remove her bulletproof vest, then stared at her breasts and bit his lip while she spoke.
Delacruz, a mother of an 8-year-old son, initially stayed silent about the harassment. “I didn’t feel like there was anyone I could go to,” she told The Post in an exclusive interview.
The alleged harassment took a more physical turn during a 2023 drive when Sandhu attempted “to kiss her against her wishes.” Delacruz pulled away and pushed him back, declaring, “No, you are married. Are you crazy?” according to the suit. He responded that he wanted her “to regard him as a lover” and indicated he would leave his wife, the lawsuit states.
At the 2023 Patrol Borough Midtown South Christmas party at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, Sandhu allegedly grabbed her left arm and insisted, “You’re coming with me tonight,” pressuring her to leave and sleep with him. She refused, telling him she was going home with her friend, but he continued gripping her arm painfully, the suit alleges.
By summer 2024, sexual rumors had fueled “serious workplace hostility.” Another female officer confronted Delacruz while she was half-naked in the women’s locker room, accusing her of “f–king the captain,” according to the suit. Some coworkers brought complaints about the alleged relationship to Mauriello at the Manhattan Transit Bureau.
Delacruz confronted Mauriello in his office on July 17, 2024. “Why are you going around saying I’m sleeping with Sandhu?” she asked. He responded, “I’m not the only one saying that. Everyone here thinks that,” according to the lawsuit.
When Internal Affairs Bureau investigators interviewed Delacruz about the locker room incident, Mauriello allegedly pressured her to limit her account. “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 said he told her. Delacruz withheld the harassment allegations, took the transfer, and found herself “pressured to leave TD1” rather than protected, the suit states.
The alleged campaign continued after her move. In September 2024, Sandhu sent a disappearing WhatsApp message containing a pornographic video depicting “a dark-haired woman positioned over a naked man lying on his back with an erect penis, which she manually stimulated,” according to the suit. “She reacted with shock and disgust, responding ‘What the f–k?'” the suit states.
Sandhu followed with messages asking, “I think I should buy you a dildo. How many dildos do you own?” He also questioned how frequently she had sex, how many times she got “f–ked,” and how often she masturbated, according to the lawsuit. Delacruz objected repeatedly, telling him, “Enough. Stop asking those questions. That’s my personal business.”
In late 2024, he sent a photo of a woman wearing a thong with her breasts exposed and legs open, the suit alleges.
Delacruz, now assigned to Manhattan North Patrol borough in Harlem, said she wants her experience to help other women in the department. “I want to make sure that girls are not getting sexually harassed and feel safe to speak up,” she 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.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. The NYPD has not yet been served and will respond upon receipt, a spokesman said. Sandhu and Mauriello did not return messages seeking comment.
The case joins a series of recent misconduct allegations against NYPD command staff. Retired Lt. Quathisha Epps alleged in 2024 that former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey paid her for sex with overtime, prompting a Department of Justice investigation; Maddrey maintained the relationship was consensual. In 2025, Inspector Jeremy Scheublin was fired after felony arrest including attempted rape of a subordinate; he has pleaded not guilty.