When investigators opened his locker, they found money and jewels he admits belonged to street vendors, the sources said.
An attempted suicide by a veteran officer has triggered an investigation into a small group of Midtown cops suspected of stealing money and jewelry from street vendors, The Post has learned.
The probe was triggered when Officer Vincent Contini slashed his wrists in his Queens home Wednesday after allegedly testing positive for cocaine during a random test, sources said.
Contini’s wife found her husband bleeding and called 911. After Contini was taken to a nearby hospital and was stabilized, Internal Affairs Bureau investigators showed up to quiz him about his suicide attempt.
Instead, sources said, he bared his soul – telling probers he’d been stealing since being assigned to the Midtown North Precinct’s peddler unit a year ago.
When IAB investigators, who had no inkling Contini was a thief, opened the 16-year veteran’s locker at the Midtown North Precinct, they found money and jewels he admits belonged to street vendors, the sources said.
Some of the goods, he told investigators, were seized from illegal vendors and never vouchered, sources said. Other cash and jewels he simply stole from peddlers, sources said.
It was not immediately clear how much Contini has stolen, although sources do not believe it is a huge amount.
Contini, who may have confessed knowing Internal Affairs was likely to search his locker following his drug test, was immediately suspended for allegedly flunking the test. As of last night, he had not been charged with the thefts.
Contini also implicated other cops from the precinct’s peddler unit, sources said.
Their lockers were also searched, but it was not immediately clear if any contraband was found.
Late yesterday, no other cops had yet been suspended.
“The department has reported that Contini failed a … test, and the PBA lawyers are representing him,” said Doc Savage, acting president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.
“We’re not going to comment further until the investigation is completed.”
The probe is the second to rock Midtown cops in the past year.
Last summer, the Midtown South Precinct was thrust into the headlines when 20 cops, including a sergeant, were placed on modified duty and stripped of their guns and badges amid allegations they protected the operations of reputed madam Helena Ramos in exchange for sex from her prostitutes and the use of a West 39th Street apartment.
Some of the sexual encounters took place in patrol cars, several prostitutes have told investigators.
At least six of the accused cops have been cooperating with investigators, sources said, including some whose home numbers show up on Ramos’ telephone records.
More cops are likely to be implicated in the scandal, sources said.