A white New York Police Department precinct commander was suspended from duty last week after allegedly sexually assaulting a Black female subordinate in his office and telling her, “I want to make biracial babies with you.” He also faces a civil lawsuit from the officer.
Inspector Jeremy Scheublin had allegedly been pursuing an inappropriate personal relationship with the female officer, a 34-year-old mother of two identified as “N.T.” in the lawsuit, since he assumed command of the NYPD’s 46th Precinct in the Bronx in December 2023, according to her complaint filed on March 6, 2026, and obtained by Atlanta Black Star.
She had repeatedly rebuffed his unwelcome personal inquiries and sexual attention. She says she made a point of never being alone with him but was surprised when he summoned her to his office on Jan. 1, 2025, for a meeting she thought would include other officers, and then he closed the door behind him.
After inquiring whether she was still in a relationship with her children’s father (a question to which the female officer said she lied and answered yes), Scheublin asked N.T., who had been an NYPD police officer since 2020, where she wanted to work in the department.
The Day That Changed It All
After she said she wanted to be on patrol, Scheublin, her precinct commander, advised her to “show him how she would be on patrol.”
He then advanced toward her and placed his hand around her neck without her consent, saying, “I don’t know whether to kiss or choke you,” the complaint alleges.
The plaintiff knocked his hand away and pulled back, allegedly prompting Scheublin to say, “Oh, you are strong; that’s the type of woman I like.”
She says she told him, “You are doing too much — Stop.”
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He then proceeded to grab her buttocks and throw her on the couch in his office, attempting to kiss her on the lips, the complaint says. She turned her face, and he kissed her on the face instead. She struggled to get away and continued blocking his attempts to kiss her, as he tried to pull her on top of him, inciting panic and fear in her that he intended to rape her, she says.
Scheublin, who was armed, then allegedly removed her gun belt, escalating her fear.
She broke free from him, regained her footing, and kneed him in the groin in self-defense, she recounts. She then shouted at her commander, who was supervisory levels above her, to “chill the f—k out.”
At this point, she says, Scheublin said that he wanted “to make biracial babies with her.”
The lawsuit asserts that she physically fought with him for several more minutes, trying to get away from the inspector, as he “appeared to interpret Plaintiff’s struggle as sexual play rather than refusal.”
The Aftermath
She emerged from his office shaken, with her clothes disheveled. N.T then immediately told Lt. Steven Mellerson and Officer Zora Strothers about the “forcible and non-consensual sexual assault,” as well as her police union delegate.
She told them all she was concerned about retaliation from the incident and decided to call the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau to report the assault.
The lawsuit says Scheublin immediately began trying to minimize or reframe the assault after she disclosed it, then tried to bribe her out of pursuing the complaint, and when she refused, began retaliating against her.
On Jan. 2, 2025, the day after the alleged assault, Scheublin appeared unexpectedly while she was in the precinct traffic office and “asked why she was distant.”
N.T. says that, in fear for her safety in an enclosed space, she initially tried to downplay the severity of the incident but then asked him to leave and told him she didn’t want to speak with him.
The Bribe
Scheublin then allegedly proceeded to offer her lucrative specialized positions, including a field intelligence officer and a position in the domestic violence unit, both promising significant salary increases and overtime — up to a $50,000 annual bump —and the potential of promotion to detective.
But the female officer “understood the offers as an attempt to silence her regarding the assault,” essentially a quid pro quo offer, and refused the positions despite their career value, the lawsuit says.
Her refusal angered Scheublin, who reportedly asked her “why she was acting like this. You were fine yesterday.”
N.T. says she responded that she was not fine and wanted him to leave her alone, adding that he “knows what he did yesterday.”
During this encounter, Strothers walked into the office, the complaint says. In her presence, Scheublin allegedly warned the plaintiff that “it didn’t go well for the last person who made accusations against me,” prompting Strothers to respond, “Whoa! Is that a threat?”
The lawsuit alleges that Strothers, who was “aligned” with Scheublin, encouraged N.T. to accept the domestic violence position the commander offered and advised her to “ask Jeremy for $25,000 as a bribe since he didn’t rape you and call it a day.”
The complaint says the comments and actions by Strothers, who did not report the alleged assault to the NYPD Office of Equal Employment Opportunity (OEEO) or to Internal Affairs, despite being a mandated reporter, reflect “the culture of impunity that pervades the 46th Precinct and NYPD’s handling of sexual misconduct by supervisory officers.”
The Report
On Jan. 3, 2025, Lt. Mellerson did report the sexual assault allegation to the OEEO, and the complaint says the plaintiff’s complaint became widely known within the precinct command structure.
The female officer also provided a detailed statement to the department’s internal affairs bureau, which eventually referred the complaint for investigation as a criminal matter to the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office. That investigation is ongoing.
Despite the serious nature of the sexual assault allegations, the NYPD did not discipline Scheublin for the next 13 months. He remained in command of the precinct and continued exercising authority over N.T.’s assignments and schedule.
The Retaliation
Following her complaint, Scheublin changed N.T.’s schedule to reporting at 3 a.m. for pre-tour overtime, an assignment atypical and considered punitive for similarly situated officers, the lawsuit says.
Scheublin “knew Plaintiff had childcare responsibilities for her young children and that a 3:00 a.m. reporting requirement would disrupt her childcare arrangements.”
He also stripped her of her partner and asked her to stay after her shift to write summonses, to harass her and further disrupt her childcare, she contends.
Lt. Mellerson, who made the report against Scheublin, also faced retaliation, the complaint says. The department transferred him to the midnight shift despite his seniority among the lieutenants in the command.
N.T. says the department reduced her overtime opportunities throughout 2025, causing her earnings to fall to $130,141, nearly $20,000 less than she earned in 2024.
The lawsuit says the department filled the domestic violence position that N.T. refused “under the unspoken offer that she does not report the sexual assault” with three different officers, who each earned between $157,000 and $183,000.
Meanwhile, N.T. says the department required her to work desk duty in the same facility as the defendant, who remained armed with his service weapon and continued supervising her. She says those encounters caused her ongoing fear and distress.
Scheublin was transferred on Jan. 12 of this year to Patrol Borough Bronx north of Manhattan, located less than a mile from the 46th precinct, which the Borough has jurisdiction over.
The Bronx district attorney has been investigating the inspector, who has been with the department for 24 years, since January 2025, The New York Times reported. He has not been charged with any crime.
The Lawsuit
Two weeks after N.T. filed a civil lawsuit against the city of New York and Scheublin on March 20, her attorney moved for a temporary restraining order and an injunction to disarm the inspector, place him on modified duty, remove him from any supervisory authority over her, and ensure he had no contact with her.
She said in an affidavit that since the assault, she has experienced anxiety, fear, and humiliation, has difficulty sleeping, and experiences panic and dread before every shift, in constant fear that Scheublin will retaliate or further harm her.
“I am forced to remain hypervigilant every moment I am on duty,” she wrote. “I cannot relax. I cannot focus on my work the way I once did. I am constantly looking over my shoulder.”
She said she overheard a supervisor make comments advising other officers “to beware of two-legged rats” in the department, which she understood “to be a reference to me for reporting the assault,” and that such statements “created an atmosphere of intimidation that discouraged other officers from supporting me or cooperating with the investigation.”
Because the NYPD has “known about the assault for over fourteen months and has chosen to do nothing to protect me,” she said she feels “abandoned by the institution I serve.”
The department offered to transfer her out of the Bronx precinct, but she declined, according to her emergency motion.
“A victim of a sexual assault should not be punished by being forced to uproot her career,” her attorney, John Scola, wrote in the motion.
Where Do We Go from Here
Her lawsuit alleges the city of New York and Scheublin violated New York City human rights law, as well as state administrative and executive law, by engaging in and condoning sexual and gender discrimination, sexual harassment, fostering a hostile work environment, and retaliating against her after she reported the assault.
She seeks a jury trial to determine compensatory damages for back pay, front pay, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of dignity, humiliation, and damages to her reputation and livelihood, as well as punitive damages.
She also asks the Bronx County Supreme Court to order the City of New York to remove Scheublin from any supervisory authority over female members of the service pending the resolution of all disciplinary and criminal proceedings arising from the conduct alleged in her lawsuit.
N.T. also wants remedial anti-harassment and oversight measures within the 46th precinct implemented within all commands in which Scheublin has served.
The NYPD suspended Scheublin last week after he filed for retirement from the department in June, the New York Post reported, citing internal NYPD orders.
His attorney, Oliver Storch, said he retired “to concentrate on addressing the hurtful and false allegations in the lawsuit. America is the greatest country, where any disgruntled worker with an ax to grind can sue the city and make the most outrageous claims for monetary gain,” he said.
Louis C. La Pietra, a defense lawyer who represents Scheublin’s union, the Captains Endowment Association, previously told the New York Times that the inspector “vehemently denies these allegations,” which he called “outrageous,” adding that he expected the city’s Law Department to represent Scheublin because he had not “done anything wrong.”
Neither the city or Scheublin have yet filed responses to the civil complaint.
