Brooklyn man gets 18 months for cutting NYPD anti-lock brakes

October 5, 2022 Rob Abruzzese

East New York's 75th Precinct has the highest number of 911 calls regarding Emotionally Disturbed Persons. Scott Roth/Invision/AP

NYPD van. Scott Roth/Invision/AP

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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A 26-year-old man from Brooklyn was given an 18-month sentence on Wednesday following a conviction related to cutting the brake-line of an NYPD cruiser.

26-year-old Jeremy Trapp was sentenced to 18 months by Judge William Kuntz after he crawled under an NYPD van that was parked near Fourth Avenue and 42nd Street in Sunset Park on July 17, 2020 and severed the anti-lock brakes.

The brake lines weren’t the only reason for Trapp’s appearance. The young Brooklynite also received an 18-month sentence, which he will serve concurrently, for defrauding the COVID-19 pandemic-related Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, and was ordered to pay $9,722.88 in restitution.

“Today’s sentence shows that there are consequences for those who seek to harm our law enforcement officers and steal from our public assistance programs,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. “In cutting a brake line on an NYPD vehicle, Jeremy Trapp showed a blatant disregard for the lives of police officers and residents of New York City who could have been killed or seriously injured by a runaway vehicle without brakes.”

Trapp either didn’t know that he hadn’t cut the actual brakes, or failed to cut them. Anti-lock brakes reduce the stopping distance in cars and without them a vehicle is significantly less safe. Once a car’s anti-lock brakes are cut it could cause the brakes to seize up, or the brake pedal could become unresponsive or require more effort to use over time.

In June of 2020, Trapp submitted a fraudulent EIDL loan and grant application where he claimed that he was the sole proprietor of a car wash located at his own home address, a residential building, in Brooklyn.

Trapp claimed on his application that he employed 10 people and his company had a gross revenue of $150,000 for the prior 12 months. The fraudulent application yielded a $42,500 loan and $10,000 grant that Trapp deposited into his bank account.