Suffolk Officer Arrested After Not Responding To Calls: SCDA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — A Suffolk County police officer was arrested after he was accused of not responding to calls for police assistance and then filing false reports claiming that he did, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini announced on Wednesday.

Matthew Drury, 34, of Lake Grove, has been employed by the Suffolk County Police Department since September 2016 and was assigned to the Fourth Precinct Patrol Section, Sini said. He has been suspended without pay, police said.

An investigation by the District Attorney’s Office’s Public Integrity Bureau found that Drury, on six occasions, did not respond to incidents to which he was dispatched and later filed false reports claiming he had responded, prosecutors said. The incidents, authorities say, are:

• A request for an emergency response involving a 75-year-old man on May 1, 2020.
• A disturbance at a home on May 1, 2020.
• A request for an emergency response involving a 90-year-old woman on April 26, 2020.
• A request for an emergency response involving a 46-year-old woman on April 26, 2020.
• A commercial alarm on April 26, 2020.
• A disturbance in front of a commercial property on Oct. 21, 2020.

Emergency medical services were also dispatched and responded to the three cases where people needed aid, officials said.

Drury was charged with six counts of first-degree falsifying business records (a class E felony); six counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing (a class E felony); and six counts of official misconduct (a class A misdemeanor).

If convicted of the top count, Drury faces a maximum sentence of one-and-one-third to four years in prison.

Drury was arraigned Wednesday at Suffolk County First District Court and released on his own recognizance. He is being represented by Anthony LaPinta and is due back in court on Oct. 14.