Ex-NY Firefighter Indicted for Posing as NYPD Officer

A former Long Island fire department volunteer who claimed to be an undercover NYPD officer has been indicted.

The bogus officer, Mary Ortega, 46, showed up for duty at Wading River Fire Department and wore an FDNY to a call, according to 1010Wins. 

The fire department suspended her last spring as they investigated her employment.

She then handed the chief a bogus NYPD ID card and forged letters from New York State Senator Simcha Felder and Kings County District Attorney Eric Gonzalez indicating she was an undercover officer assigned to a gang and drug unit, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said, announcing the arrest. 

Ortega is charged with three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, three counts of first-degree falsifying business records, three counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and second-degree criminal impersonation.

"This defendant is alleged to have violated the trust of the Wading River community by falsely holding herself out to be a New York City police officer, and then compounding that misconduct by allegedly filing forged letters from two high-ranking public officials to conceal her original crime," Tierney said.

She was released on her own recognizance Wednesday. Her next court appearance is March 9.