Ossining police officer fired after being accused of stealing money during traffic stop

The firing of an Ossining police officer in November came just days after a village resident accused the officer of stealing $900 from him during a police stop outside a bar, the Journal News/lohud has learned.

But Marques Randolph insists he never took any money from the man and that his supervisors conducted an incomplete investigation that cost him the job he loved.

The allegation led the Westchester District Attorney’s Office to open an investigation into Randolph, which recently concluded without charges. Police Chief Aaron Zimmerman said the state attorney general’s office is also investigating, but a spokeswoman for that agency declined to comment on the status of the investigation.

The Journal News/lohud reported Randolph’s firing a day after the board voted to fire him on the recommendation of then-Police Chief Kevin Sylvester. Village officials offered no explanation, but the state Division of Criminal Justice Services told the newspaper at the time that the police department had filed a request to decertify Randolph’s training on the grounds that he was fired for dishonesty and professional misconduct.

Randolph, who joined the department in July 2023 after a year as a Mount Vernon police officer, was fired while still a probationary officer in Ossining. He complains that he was never formally interviewed before any disciplinary action, but Zimmerman said he was not entitled to one because he was considered a “probationary failure.”

What was the charge against Marques Randolph?

According to police reports obtained through a freedom of information request, the theft allegation was made by Jimmy Betancourt, 57, a resident of South Highland Avenue.

Late on Nov. 10, Betancourt told police he went to the Walgreens on Croton Avenue to buy beer and take it back to his niece’s house, where he had been drinking earlier. When he realized the Walgreens was closed, he said he was going to leave, though the video shows he pulled into a parking spot.

Randolph was in the Walgreens parking lot next to the Atlantic Restaurant and Bar and pulled up behind Betancourt’s truck. When he got out to talk to the driver, Betancourt told him he had had a few beers and didn’t have his license, and Randolph then asked him to get out of the car and empty his pockets.

The two men walked toward the patrol car. Betancourt claimed to have put his money and phone in the front seat. Randolph was going to use his computer to check on Betancourt but did not and told him he could leave. Betancourt drove away without taking his money, which Randolph soon returned.

Betancourt was happy to be released, but instead of leaving, he went to the bar and ordered a beer. When he finished and paid, he realized he only had $220, not the $1,120 he had on him that night.

He left the bar and searched unsuccessfully for the nine missing $100 bills. He immediately reported the missing money and his suspicions that Randolph had taken it to Sergeant Jafeth Chavez, who had responded to the scene on an unrelated matter.

Randolph denied taking the money

Chavez and Sergeant Anthony Oliveira then questioned Randolph, who denied taking any money. He said he never counted it and suggested there wasn’t as much money as Betancourt claimed because the stack of bills wasn’t that thick. He also claimed Betancourt put the money on the hood of the patrol car and that he was never alone with the money.

In their reports, the sergeants said they reprimanded Randolph after he acknowledged that he did not activate his body camera during his interactions with Betancourt, did not radio that he was interviewing someone, did not perform a field sobriety test and did not verify Betancourt’s pedigree information.

Randolph told them he believed his interaction with Betancourt was minor and did not need to be recorded or reported and that he had not been logged into the EJustice program in the patrol car, so he did not record Betancourt’s name, according to Chavez’s report.

Zimmerman, who was a detective lieutenant when he received Betancourt’s formal complaint three days after the incident, said it was deemed credible and forwarded to county and state prosecutors for investigation.

No formal charges have been filed against Randolph by the prosecutor.

Last month, Jennifer Sculco, head of the district attorney’s public integrity office, wrote to Zimmerman that “based on the totality of the circumstances, including our legal assessment of the admissibility of certain evidence in a potential criminal proceeding against Randolph, we have concluded our investigation without filing any charges against Randolph.”

The interaction between Randolph and Betancourt was captured on videos from Walgreens and the bar. Randolph contends that the bar video appears to show Betancourt counting his money as he walks toward the bar moments after picking it up from Randolph, in which case he either had all his money at that point or would have known something was missing.

But neither video shows anything placed on the hood of the patrol car. And shortly after Betancourt walks away from the car, the Walgreens video appears to show Randolph on the driver’s side of his car for several seconds before rushing to return Betancourt’s belongings — without stopping in front of the car as he would have done if the items had been on the hood.

Randolph hired a lawyer to file a lawsuit challenging his firing, but he said a deadline passed before any complaint was filed.

Reached by phone recently, Betancourt said he didn’t immediately count the money when Randolph returned it to him because he trusted him, especially since he let him go even though he admitted to drinking and not having a license.

He said he was not focused on the Randolph investigations, but was grateful to no longer be a police officer.

“I’ve lived here a long time, I trust the police,” he said. “But the law is the law. He shouldn’t have done that.”

But Randolph says he didn’t do what Betancourt claimed. The snap judgment from his superiors and the resulting revocation of his certification, he says, make it harder for him to find another job in law enforcement, but he’s not giving up hope.

He was part of Mount Vernon’s chronic “badge flight,” seeking higher pay and a shorter commute, but now regrets leaving town. He proudly recalls the commissioner’s award he received for his police work several weeks before he left.

“I’m a law-abiding, community man with strong values and integrity,” he said. “And they just fired me.”

Journalist Asher Stockler contributed to this report.