Two former NYPD cops were sentenced to probation for sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman after a night out at a Bronx bar — as the survivor of the heinous crime urged others to report their stories, no matter the title of their assailant.
Julio Alcantara-Santiago, 40, and Christian Garcia, 32, were sentenced on Friday at Bronx Supreme Criminal Court after taking a plea agreement for the assault that unfolded on July 9, 2023.
Alcantara-Santiago appeared nervous in an orange blazer and pinstriped pants as he was sentenced to six years of sex offender probation.
Garcia sported a two-piece navy suit and glasses as he accepted one year of probation and was ordered to complete a behavioral treatment program.
On the night of June 8, 2023, the unidentified woman went out with co-workers at Zona De Cuba lounge in Grand Concourse, according to a victim impact statement she read aloud to the courtroom.
After going up to a rooftop area of the establishment and having some drinks, the next thing she recalled was waking up to being sexually assaulted by two men in a stranger’s home.
“The next thing I remember is slightly waking up in someone’s home. And then what hurts more is that I see two men over me and feel hands in certain parts of my body,” she said.
“I start to make movement so that the men can stop. I’m terrified and scared that if I say something or if they notice that I’m awake while they’re doing certain things, they will harm me or even kill me,” she told the courtroom.
She said she continued to lie there and fell asleep, and woke up the next morning, realizing she was still in the strange apartment near the lounge.
After desperately calling her sister and best friend for help, she escaped the home and decided to go to a local Bronx hospital to be evaluated. There, she was given a rape kit and spoke to multiple police officers, the victim said.
The two officers were arrested in April 2024 after surveillance footage helped connect them to the crime. Both cops were suspended without pay, the NYPD said at the time.
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