Rockville Center Detective John Murphy charged with hate crimes in Manorville, authorities say

A Rockville Center police detective has been charged with a hate crime after authorities said Wednesday he harassed a cellphone company employee and damaged his vehicle while making racist comments.

Police said John Murphy, 40, of Manorville, was charged with two counts of criminal mischief as a hate crime and one count of aggravated harassment. Murphy, identified by authorities as a Rockville Center detective, will be arraigned Wednesday in First District Court in Central Islip. It was not immediately clear whether he is represented by counsel.

A spokeswoman for the Village of Rockville Center, Julie Grilli, said in a statement Wednesday: “The Village of Rockville Center does not comment on personnel matters.”

Police said the incident occurred around 7pm on Sunday, November 3, when Murphy approached a mobile company subcontractor while working at a GMC lot on the corner of Sylvan Court and Weeks Avenue in Manorville. Police said Murphy questioned what the subcontractor was doing in the area and then identified himself as “a law enforcement officer” but “refused to look at the employee’s credentials.”

In a statement Wednesday describing the incident and arrest, police said Murphy “then kicked the GMC, causing damage, yanking the light on the top of the vehicle and throwing it at the worker, who is black, while made racist comments.”

On Wednesday, Suffolk District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney issued a statement saying, “The victim here was just trying to do his job when the suspect allegedly harassed him and damaged his vehicle. To make matters worse, disaster, the suspect is a sworn law enforcement officer, responsible for protecting the rights of citizens, rather than violating them as alleged here.”

Check back for updates on this developing story.

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been nationally honored by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, entrepreneurial and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee’pea,” a book about former New York basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti can be seen in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”