NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (July 13, 2026) — A former New Rochelle resident has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging a police lieutenant planted narcotics on him near Bracey Houses in 2024, then falsely charged him with felony drug possession, according to a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Ivin Harper, 46, a fitness trainer and actor, sued the City of New Rochelle, former Lt. Sean Kane, Officer Maria Vasquez, Officer Timothy Adrian and civilian Gregory Davis, according to the complaint. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s fees and injunctive relief, and demands a jury trial.
The case, assigned to the Manhattan courthouse, was brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and New York state law by attorneys David N. Fisher of Fisher & Byrialsen PLLC and Luna Droubi of Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP.
According to the complaint, Kane approached Harper on May 29, 2024, near Harper’s parked Cadillac Escalade. Harper ran, and Kane chased him on foot. During the pursuit, dispatch informed Kane that Harper was the vehicle’s registered owner and that an earlier theft alert had been resolved, the complaint states. Kane can be heard responding, “I didn’t ask for that information,” and ordered the vehicle searched anyway, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges Kane then turned off his body-worn camera, met with Davis and received a bag of drugs from him. Kane’s own camera, which he believed was not recording, allegedly captured him holding and concealing the drugs before he placed them under a parked SUV, according to the complaint.
Officer Vasquez then wrote a police report and swore to a felony complaint stating Kane had seen Harper throw the bag underneath the vehicle, according to the lawsuit, which alleges Vasquez knew the account was false because both officers’ views were blocked by stairs and a wall at the time.
Harper was arraigned July 10, 2024, on felony drug possession charges; they were dismissed August 23, 2024, according to the complaint.
The complaint states that Deputy Police Commissioner Neil Reynolds signed formal disciplinary charges against Kane on April 24, 2025, documenting Kane’s admission that he did not see Harper discard the drugs and that Davis had supplied them. Reynolds has since succeeded Robert Gazzola as police commissioner, with Gazzola having retired from the post.
According to the lawsuit, Kane was demoted to police officer on March 2, 2026, resigned March 29, 2026, after nearly 19 years on the force, and subsequently joined the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. He was not criminally charged, the complaint states. Vasquez was promoted to detective on Oct. 16, 2025, while the internal affairs investigation remained open, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit also addresses the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, established by ordinance in October 2024 and seated in July 2025. The complaint states the CCRB had never held a meeting as of the lawsuit’s filing, and alleges the city made NRPD-administered training a mandatory prerequisite for board members to review cases, then never provided that training. The complaint alleges Reynolds investigated, decided and announced Kane’s discipline without any CCRB review, in violation of city code, and that Kane’s admission “sat in an internal file, unpublished and unexamined by any civilian body, until it was obtained by a journalist (Robert Cox) through a Freedom of Information Law request.”
The account is consistent with Talk of the Sound’s ongoing reporting on the CCRB’s inactivity and on NRPD disciplinary practices.
The lawsuit also cites prior disciplinary and use-of-force records involving officers Michael Vaccaro and Alec McKenna, including McKenna’s fatal shooting of New Rochelle resident Kamal Flowers in June 2020, as part of allegations that the city has a pattern of inadequately disciplining officers — material that is consistent with Talk of the Sound’s prior reporting on both officers.
A Westchester County grand jury declined to indict Kane on criminal charges, returning a “no true bill” on Dec. 13, 2024 — meaning jurors found insufficient evidence to bring charges. That grand jury proceeding was not mentioned in the federal civil complaint.
None of the allegations in the complaint has been proven in court. The City of New Rochelle and the named individual defendants had not filed a response as of publication.
RELATED
This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
Have information about this story? Email robertcox@talkofthesound (preferred) or contact via WhatsApp: +353 089 972 0669.