NEW YORK _ A city cop who was fired after he asked out a woman he arrested sued to get his job back, arguing officers have done far worse without being canned, court papers show.
Former NYPD Officer Rory Santiago exchanged a series of texts with Kammie Sifonte after he cuffed her for allegedly shoplifting from Target on Nov. 21, 2016.
Sifonte was given a "desk appearance ticket" and released from the 52nd Precinct.
Shortly after, he checked in with her to make sure she "found the car" and added, "you owe me donuts."
"Time and date and you got it," she responded. "We are birthday buddies."
Santiago suggested they meet later that day but she declined.
"I've had enough drama lmao," she texted.
She later asked the cop if he often flirted with people he arrested.
"Only the attractive ones" he replied, adding that he thinks "u look better with the cuffs on."
The texts later became raunchy, with him writing that he loves "a woman who could sit on my face." He also said she was "thick in all the right places" and volunteered to rub her "in all the right places."
Santiago was fired by the NYPD in June.
His lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court argues that decision was "arbitrary and capricious" because officers who did much worse have been allowed to remain on the force.
That includes Officer Joseph Essig, who was caught on video at Harrah's Casino in Atlantic City in October 2015 apparently pinching a woman's buttocks.
Essig plead guilty to a public health violation and was allowed to remain on the force. Critics of the NYPD's disciplinary system believe he was given a relative free pass because his father is Assistant Chief James Essig.
Sifonte, whose criminal charges were dismissed and sealed, filed a lawsuit against the NYPD for "in excess of $25,000" in November 2017. The court papers allege she was afraid of offending Santiago and played along with his texts.
The Bronx Supreme Court case is pending.
"Ronny Santiago is not fit to be a Police Officer," said Sifonte's lawyer, Henry Bell. "You can see what he did. He lacked the judgment to be a Police Officer."
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