The former head of the New York Police Department has accused Eric Adams, the city’s mayor, of ordering the false arrest and full body search of his wife.

Thomas Donlon, who was appointed interim NYPD commissioner in September 2024, said the alleged move was “coordinated humiliation” and retaliation for his reporting of Mr Adams for “systemic corruption”.

The complaint was part of a federal lawsuit filed by Mr Donlon in which he alleged that Mr Adams and other top police officials were running a “coordinated criminal enterprise that had taken root at the highest levels of city government”.

He claimed New York’s police force was “criminal at its core” with conspirators committing fraud, obstruction of justice and retaliation against whistleblowers.

“A coordinated criminal conspiracy had taken root at the highest levels of city government — carried out through wire fraud, mail fraud, honest services fraud, obstruction of justice and retaliation against whistleblowers,” the complaint states.

Adams accused of doing nothing about alleged misconduct

In the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday with the Southern District of New York, Mr Donlon claimed Mr Adams did nothing when he was informed of the alleged misconduct.

He claimed the alleged co-conspirators retaliated to him reporting their alleged misconduct by orchestrating the detention of his wife, Deirdre O’Connor, who was handcuffed and subjected to a “full body search”.

The lawsuit piles renewed scrutiny on Mr Adams, whose federal corruption charges, including conspiracy and wire fraud, were dismissed by the Department of Justice following Donald Trump’s re-election.

Mr Adams is running against Democrat nominee Zohran Mamdani, Republican Curtis Sliwa and independent Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral race in November.

Mr Donlon was appointed as the commissioner in September 2024. The former FBI official was removed two months later and moved into a senior adviser for public safety role before that position was eliminated in April.

Mr Donlon has claimed he was commissioner “in name only” and was “purely a figurehead” while Mr Adams’s allies “exercised unchecked power”.

‘NYPD turned against Donlon’

In his lawsuit, which names several senior police officials as defendants, Mr Donlon claimed to have “uncovered systemic corruption and criminal conduct being perpetrated by the NYPD’s leadership”.

But, he claims, Mr Adams “took no action in response” and “condoned the misconduct and allowed the NYPD to function as a criminal enterprise”.

“When Donlon demanded accountability for the NYPD defendants’ collective misconduct, they turned against him,” the lawsuit said.

Mr Donlon claimed that in “collusion” with Mr Adams, “promotions and favours were allegedly traded to suppress dissent and bury accountability”.

Mr Donlon claims the alleged corruption “triggered a massive, unlawful transfer of public wealth — millions of dollars in unearned salary increases, overtime eligibility, pension enhancements, and post-retirement benefits”.

“The NYPD ceased to function through the long established chain of command. Power was wielded based not on rank, merit, or civil service law, but on personal allegiance to defendant Adams,” the court filing claimed.

‘Deliberate abuse of power’

The lawsuit also accuses several of the defendants of carrying out “a calculated and deeply personal act of vengeance” by orchestrating the false arrest of Mr Donlon’s wife and leaking it to the press.

Mrs Donlon was allegedly arrested, searched and detained on Dec 16 2024 after she rear-ended which caused her to hit the Uber van in front of her in the rear. She was eventually given a summons for lapse of insurance and then released from custody.

“This was not a mistake. It was a deliberate abuse of power designed to punish and intimidate Donlon for exposing their misconduct,” the lawsuit said.

“This coordinated humiliation was a direct warning: the NYPD defendants would stop at nothing to silence and personally destroy Donlon, even if it meant violating the constitutional rights of his spouse.”

Mr Donlon called for federal officials to take control of the NYPD and monitor the NYPD’s disciplinary process and promotion decisions.

Kayla Mamelak Altus, a spokeswoman for the mayor, denied the allegations.

“These are baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee who — when given the opportunity to lead the greatest police department in the world — proved himself to be ineffective,” she said

“This suit is nothing more than an attempt to seek compensation at the taxpayer’s expense after Mr Donlon was rightfully removed from the role of interim police commissioner,” she said.