FDNY FIREFIGHTER INDICTED FOR STEALING CREDIT CARDS FROM DECEASED PATIENT DURING EMS CALL

Defendant Charged $250 in Merchandise and Attempted to Charge $800 More 

 Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber today announced that a FDNY firefighter has been indicted on grand larceny, identity theft and other charges for stealing credit cards of a deceased patient during an emergency call and using them to charge hundreds of dollars in items.

 District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant, a firefighter in the New York City Fire Department, allegedly stole an American Express card and a Mastercard while responding to a 911 call at the Manhattan home of a patient who died. A day later, the defendant allegedly went to various stores in the Bronx and made purchases using the stolen cards. These alleged actions are reprehensible, even more so because he is a member of the city’s Bravest and violated the public trust.”

 Commissioner Strauber said, “This City firefighter, as alleged, was entrusted to provide emergency medical attention to New Yorkers in need. Instead, he used his position to steal the identity and credit cards of an individual he was called upon to help. The disgraceful charged conduct does not represent the compassion and integrity of the City’s first responders and I thank the Bronx District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD for their commitment to hold accountable those City employees who violate the trust placed in them.”

  District Attorney Clark said Sylus McKenzie, 33, of the Bronx, was arraigned on June 15, 2023 on two counts of fourth degree Grand Larceny, Attempted Identity Theft in the second degree, third-degree Identity Theft, second-degree Criminal Impersonation, and Official Misconduct before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. He is due back in court on September 7, 2023.

 According to the investigation by the Bronx DA’s Public Integrity Bureau and DOI, on the night of January 11, 2021, the defendant, a FDNY Firefighter for about four years, responded to a 911 call for an unresponsive male at 231 East 50th Street in Manhattan. The man was pronounced dead shortly after the defendant arrived. After McKenzie left the scene and other first responders were preparing to seal the location, it was discovered that multiple credit cards of the decedent were missing from the apartment.

 According to the investigation, on January 12, 2021, between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., multiple transactions were made, and attempted, on the decedent’s missing credit cards. The defendant allegedly bought or tried to buy a total of $1,123.21 in purchases at a Sunoco Gas Station, a Food Bazaar Supermarket, and AirPods at Target.

 District Attorney Clark thanked the Department of Investigation, specifically Assistant Inspector General Jordan Buff in DOI’s Office of the Inspector General for FDNY, with the supervision of Deputy Inspector General Aleksandro Tilka, Deputy Inspector General Arturo Sanchez, Inspector General Audrey Feldman and Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Dominick Zarrella.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.