Legendary retired NYPD detective Frank Serpico claims law enforcement officers deleted secret files from his file that could have finally revealed whether he was framed during a drug raid 52 years ago.
Serpico, now 87, exposed widespread police corruption related to gambling and drugs in the 1960s and 1970s. He waited five decades to get his hands on his files.
Five months ago, he filed a Freedom of Information request seeking internal files about his police career. What he got back were 20,000 pages of never-before-published documents from the 1960s.
But documents related to the near-fatal on-duty shooting — captured in the Oscar-nominated film “Serpico,” starring Al Pacino — have disappeared without a trace from his dossier.
“My files were deleted,” Serpico told . “I received 11 boxes of crap and the essentials weren’t there.” They didn’t “lose” anything. The important things must have been deleted on purpose. Everything that shows how I had to die is missing.’
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment from .
Legendary retired NYPD detective Frank Serpico claims law enforcement officials deleted secret files from his file that could shed light on what really happened the night he was nearly shot during a drug raid 52 years ago. He told that his files had been deleted by police officials
Serpico, pictured with his lawyer during a police corruption commission in 1971, was lambasted by the NYPD’s veteran guard for his unconventional behavior
Serpico was almost shot in a botched drug raid in 1971. The Harrowing Night was later adapted into a 1973 biographical film starring Al Pacino (pictured). But the retired NYPD whistleblower insists the events that unfolded the night he was shot remain obscure
Serpico told that when he confronted an NYPD attorney about the missing files, he was told, “These things happen.”
In a series of interviews with last month in a small New York hamlet not far from his home outside Albany, Serpico lashed out angrily at the NYPD.
He insisted that the document disposal was evidence of the agency’s willingness to engage in a cynical cover-up to hide embarrassing truths from him and the public.
Serpico, once reviled by the NYPD’s stodgy old guard for his unconventional ways – his long hair, his beard, his gold earring, his leather sandals, his penchant for the opera and a bachelor pad in Greenwich Village where he entertained stewardess girlfriends – the embodiment of Serpico anti-establishment remains cool.
During this interview he was alternately cheerful, angry, offended, profane and lewd. He delivered unfiltered and spirited rants, sometimes denigrating specific people who he felt had betrayed him, angered him, belittled him, or otherwise failed to appreciate his sacrifices.
However, his biggest criticism was the missing documents.
“There are boxes of stuff we know from the 1971 Knapp Commission,” he fumed, referring to the investigative agency that New York City Mayor John Lindsay launched in response to Serpico’s shocking revelations that corrupt police officers are the rule rather than the exception, “but it has nothing to do with it.” I will be shot.
“There’s nothing to do with the shooting. “They just made it go away like it didn’t happen.”
The documents were released in response to a May 18 letter written by Serpico’s attorney, Peter Gleason, asking former Commissioner Keechat Sewell to provide Serpico’s employment file, which included Serpico’s personnel file heard [and] Serpico’s medical records.’
The NYPD provided internal affairs files, police and court memoranda on a USB stick. The drive contains 11 individual “boxes” of documents, with each box containing about 2,000 pages, NYPD officials wrote to Gleason.
Serpico, pictured in 1974, exposed police corruption before he was almost shot. He claims he was framed that fateful night
Gleason likened the falsified files to a bad joke.
“Sometimes what’s missing is more compelling than what’s there.” “That’s the case with the NYPD’s internal affairs file, which contained nothing about the attempted murder of Frank Serpico,” Gleason said.
“Many law enforcement officials remain confused about the official account of the Serpico shooting. “The NYPD and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office have an obligation and duty to correct the record.”
The documents include once-classified intelligence reports analyzing politics or the “numbers business,” as well as profiles of criminals in the field, such as the late Genoese underboss Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno and Raymond “Spanish Raymond” Marques.
There are newspaper clippings, photographs, copies of handwritten notes; Transcripts of grand jury testimony and statements from police officers who were under investigation for corruption at the time.
But everything that reminds us of the shooting on February 3, 1971, which almost cost Serpico his life is missing.
This botched police operation was dramatically captured in the 1973 film “Serpico,” which won Oscar nominations for Al Pacino as Serpico and director Sydney Lumet. It is based on the book by author Peter Maas.
Before the shooting, Serpico had received a number of death threats.
As early as April 1966, according to NYPD records, he reported a $300 bribe, allegedly on behalf of a prominent Brooklyn gambler.
He also testified against former Bronx police colleagues who were accused of accepting monthly payouts from players. More than a dozen were charged with perjury and other crimes. Some were abruptly laid off or retired; others went to prison.
Serpico’s paranoia may sound exaggerated, but his refusal to accept any bribe – and his demonstrated fearlessness when he willingly testified against police officers who did so – made him a likely target for retribution.
“It’s no coincidence that he ended up on the wrong side of a would-be assassin’s gun,” said Gleason, a former NYPD cop.
The late former NYPD Police Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy wrote in a 1978 book: “I don’t believe that Serpico was founded, and what’s more, I don’t believe that Serpico believes in it either.” Serpico railed against his former boss and said opposite : “How the hell would he know what I was thinking?” He never once asked me what I was thinking.
Serpico’s brush with death occurred when he and two police officers assigned to a drug squad – Patrolmen Gary Roteman and Arthur Cesare – converged outside Apartment 3G at 778 Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg to arrest suspected heroin dealer Edgar “Mambo” Echevarria , 25, to arrest.
The plan was for Serpico to get Echevarria to open the door so he could buy some heroin, thus allowing his partners to rush in and arrest the suspect.
“My partners said, ‘Just open the door and leave the rest to us,'” Serpico recalls.
While struggling to open the door, Serpico was forced to fire his weapon, wounding Echevarria in the hand.
But Echevarria, hiding behind the apartment door, fired his own .22-caliber weapon. A bullet passed through Serpico’s face, damaging his auditory nerve and leaving him deaf in his left ear. At Greenpoint Hospital he received last rites from a Catholic priest.
Echevarria was able to escape through a rear fire escape and steal Serpico’s .38-caliber snub-nose revolver. He was captured after another off-duty police officer, Patrolman Maxwell Katz, shot Echevarria in the stomach.
Fifteen months later, Echevarria was convicted of attempted murder and related crimes. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, paroled on June 18, 1990 and presumed dead.
In December 1971, nine months after he was shot, Serpico delivered riveting, televised testimony before the Knapp Commission in which he detailed the anguish honest police officers feel when they refuse to accept bribes or petty gratuities from hardened criminals or from ordinary businessmen.
Serpico noted several troubling inconsistencies in his shooting and hoped the new NYPD files could shed light on the matter.
He said his partners did not tell him important details in advance, including that Echevarria was considered “armed and dangerous.”
“I knew how dangerous [undercover work] because that was my thing. “But not being warned in advance that he was armed and dangerous removes any doubt that I was in danger,” he said
Serpico said he believed his partners were slowly rushing to the apartment door before he was wounded. He also suspects that his aides failed to provide him with prompt medical attention.
After the shooting, the NYPD announced that both Cesare and Roteman had fired their weapons at Echevarria, although Serpico has no such recollection and remains doubtful.
Serpico wondered why a 911 call made from a neighbor’s phone after he was shot was incorrectly reported as “10-10,” or “shots fired,” rather than “10-13,” the more serious code for “Officer knocked down and in need of help.
As a result, only one police car initially appeared at the scene, whose driver quickly took him to the hospital before an ambulance arrived.
Cesare contradicted several of Serpico’s claims in his 2013 self-published book Iron Men in Blue.
Serpico insists that the documents he obtained from the NYPD were evidence of the agency’s willingness to engage in a cynical cover-up to hide embarrassing truths from both him and the public. Years ago, he received a copy of a two-page detective report detailing the arrest of the man who shot him during a drug raid in 1971. However, the document is missing from his official records
He wrote that he stormed the door and single-handedly broke the apartment’s chain lock – something Serpcio said he did first.
“I rushed to the door and tried to push it open, hitting the door directly above Frank’s head,” Cesare wrote. “The chain that secured the door to the doorpost broke off.” Gary [Patrolman Gary Roteman] Hit the door to my left. The door was half open, but we were not allowed in.
“Gary said, ‘I’m about to get started,’ so I stepped back from the door. “At that moment,” Cesare added, “someone came running out of the apartment. A shot rang out and Frank collapsed to the ground.
Serpico obtained a copy of a two-page detective report detailing Echevarria’s arrest years ago, but the document is missing from the new files.
Due to the lack of such data, it is not possible to determine whether police officers were questioned about the events or whether anyone was punished. For example, there were no ballistics reports in the released material to prove that Cesare and Roteman actually fired their weapons.
Al Pacino, who played Frank Serpico in a film based on the botched drug raid, is seen in a scene recreating the scene where the famous cop hides in the hallway before being shot
According to records, Cesare died in 2020 and Roteman could not be reached for comment.
Both patrol officers received awards just two months after the shooting. Serpico, meanwhile, waited five decades to receive the full recognition he deserved.
It wasn’t until February 2022 that he was awarded the NYPD Medal of Honor, the department’s highest award for bravery, along with a certificate after New York City Mayor Eric Adams stepped in.
Serpico directed his harshest invective at the late former NYPD Police Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy, who wrote in his 1978 book “A View From the Top of American Law Enforcement”: “I do not believe that Serpico was founded, and even more so, I don’t think Serpico believes it either.’
“How the hell would he know what I was thinking?” He was the police commissioner and I was a lowly patrolman. “He never once asked me what I thought,” complained Serpico.
FRANK SERPICO SCHEDULE
April 14, 1936 – Frank Serpico is born as the youngest of four children to parents Maria, a housewife, and Vincenzo, a shoemaker.
September 11, 1959 – At the age of 23, Serpico is appointed to the New York Police Department after a stint as a city social worker. In 1960 he graduated from the Brooklyn Police Academy
February 1966 – Serpico is assigned to the 90th Precinct Civilian Unit in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
July 7, 1968 – Serpico reveals his first corruption case. His brother Pasquale, who ran a bodega, claimed that two patrol officers from the 80th Precinct lured him away for a $2 ransom so he could operate on Sundays. Almost two years later, both police officers were found guilty and fired
August 13, 1966 – Serpico receives a white envelope with $300 cash inside and is told it comes from “Jewish Max” – a well-known gambler in the neighborhood
August 16, 1966 – Serpico attempts to report the $300 bribe, but is reportedly told by a police captain, “When it’s all over, they’ll find you face down in the East River.”
November 1966 – Serpico is to be transferred to a civilian unit of the Seventh Division in the Bronx – but is alarmed by rumors of corruption
December 8, 1966 – Serpico soon learns in his new role that his new police colleagues are among the most corrupt in the NYPD, with most on the “pad,” meaning they receive regular monthly payouts totaling about $800 each received per police officer per month
January 1, 1967 – Serpico is at Otto’s Bar and Grill when a plainclothes partner, Patrolman Robert Stanard, busts a bookie named Pasquale Trozzo for a gambling affair despite receiving a $200 bribe. Serpico is offered half but declines. Later this month, Stanard Serpico will officially offer participation in the “Pad” – consisting of payouts from players for ignoring violations. Serpico is non-committal. “I don’t care what you do,” Serpico replies, “just so I don’t get in trouble.” Satisfied, Stanard takes him to the Sportsman’s Bar and introduces him to a Bronx mobster, Nino Ribustello, who offers Serpico $20 , with a friendly reminder to “get a hat.” Serpico advises the gangster to give Stanard the bonus money
February 19, 1967 – Serpico meets with a police captain to discuss contacting First Assistant Commissioner John Walsh, the department’s second-highest ranking official and the agency’s top corruption fighter, regarding Serpico’s concerns about widespread corruption. Behan tells Serpico to continue collecting confidential evidence based on Walsh’s consent and promises that Walsh will “keep in touch with you.” Walsh never answers
April 1967 – Serpico meets with Mayor John Linday’s aide Jay Kriegel in the basement of City Hall on Sundays and lays out the details of widespread police corruption. Kriegel takes notes but later says a meeting to discuss corruption will not take place will – and the government doesn’t want to risk angering police over the prospect of a “long, hot summer”.
May 30, 1967 – Undeterred, Serpico meets city department investigator Arthur Fraiman at the lawyer’s apartment. Serpico provides details of police corruption, including the names, locations and extent of the bribery he observed. Serpico later testifies how Fraiman responded, “What am I supposed to do about it?” Fraiman, who later denies that the meeting ever took place until he is called to testify, is later appointed a justice of the Bronx Supreme Court.
April 25, 1970 – After a six-month investigation, David Burnham of the New York Times writes a groundbreaking story exposing massive police corruption in New York City. He relies largely on the unattributed insider information from Serpico, Durk and NYPD Inspector Paul Delise with the headline: “The bribes paid to the police here are said to amount to millions.” The story acts like a thunderbolt and wakes up the town hall and the NYPD out of its lethargy to confront the corruption problem
May 21, 1970 – Whitman Knapp, a renowned lawyer, is appointed by Mayor Lindsay to head an investigation into police corruption
June 30, 1970 – Robert Stanard, Serpico’s former civilian partner in the Seventh Division, is convicted by a grand jury of five counts of perjury in connection with an investigation into the lucrative $800-a-month “block” he oversees. He served about a year in prison before his conviction was overturned
February 3, 1971 – Serpico is shot in the face during a heroin buy at 788 Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg that went wrong. Edgar “Mambo” Echevarria, 25, is being held on attempted murder charges. In the hospital, Serpico first receives the last rites.
As he recovers, he receives a get well card that reads “Recover quickly!” However, the words are replaced with the written message “Die!” Below it is the greeting, “You scumbag!” Days later, a second card arrives that reads: “WITH SINCERE COMPASSION.” Below it is an additional handwritten note: “That you didn’t have your brains shot out, you fucking bastard.” Happy relapse. ‘
May 14, 1971 – Serpico is promoted to detective and receives a “Golden Shield” from NYPD Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy at a ceremony at police headquarters.
December 14, 1971 – Serpico testifies before the Knapp Commission, an investigation into widespread police corruption
May 31, 1972 – Edgar Echevarria, the suspect who shot and wounded Serpico, is convicted in Brooklyn Supreme Court of attempted murder, possession of a dangerous weapon and grand larceny. He received a life sentence of 15 years and was released on parole in June 1990
August 3, 1972 – In its final report, the Knapp Commission on Police Corruption concludes that there are “two basic categories” of corrupt NYPD cops: those who are “flesh eaters” and those who are “grass eaters.”
Weed eaters “simply accept the rewards police give them” by accepting tips — payments of $5, $10 or $20 — from contractors, tow truck drivers and gamblers to overlook minor crimes. In comparison, “flesh eaters” are far more vicious, as these officers “aggressively use their police powers for personal gain,” such as extorting drug dealers for payouts that can amount to tens of thousands of dollars at a time.
The report highlights a largely amoral department in which police officers are determined to routinely accept bribes of up to $80,000, share their loot with their superiors, finance drug deals, pass on the names of informants to criminals and find hitmen, to kill witnesses
June 15, 1972 – Serpico resigns from the NYPD and then moves to Switzerland. He later settled in Holland and spent about ten years in Europe before returning to the United States
December 5, 1973 – The film Serpico is released in New York City. The film chronicles Serpico’s whistleblowing efforts and garners director Sidney Lumet and actor Al Pacino Oscar nominations.
Sources: Interviews with Frank Serpico; “Serpico” by Peter Maas; The New York Times; The Knapp Commission on Police Corruption