Two off-duty NYPD cops were arraigned in Bronx County Criminal Court on Tuesday for allegedly raping an incapacitated woman after a night out at Zona de Cuba in the South Bronx.
Christian Garcia and Julio Alcantara-Santiago were arrested in the 44th NYPD Precinct on April 23 and charged with multiple counts of criminal sexual offenses — including sexual abuse, sexual misconduct and forcible touching, according to the Bronx District Attorney’s office. Garcia was assigned is currently assigned to the Brooklyn Court Section, and Alcantara-Santiago is stationed at the Manhattan Court Section.
The criminal complaint chronicles their night at Zona de Cuba, located at 558 Grand Concourse, last summer — alleging that they left the bar and restaurant after midnight on July 9, 2023. According to circuit video surveillance, the woman survivor was apparently “heavily intoxicated in that she is unable to stand or walk on her own” by the time they left in a car together.
The woman told investigators she didn’t have memory of leaving Zona de Cuba that night, but that she remembers waking up “in an unknown bed in an unfamiliar room” to both Garcia and Alcantara-Santiago performing sexual acts on her, and that she “was unable to respond verbally or move her body physically due to her level of intoxication.” The complaint states that Garcia allegedly said “let’s go bro, she’s waking up,” to Alcantara-Santiago during the rape. According to the case filing, the woman went to a Bronx hospital at 7:30 a.m. the next morning to get a Sexual Offense Evidence Collection Kit collected.
Earlier this year, on Feb. 15, both Garcia and Alcantara-Santiago consented to buccal DNA testing (a cheek swab) — which came back on March 25 as matches to the sample collected in the woman’s rape kit.
Alcantara-Santiago had been previously charged for groping a 52-year-old woman at the Hard Rock Cafe at Yankee Stadium in 2022, but the Bronx District Attorney’s office dropped the charges after not finding sufficient evidence. Then, Alcantara-Santiago said the “baseless” accusation was “beyond demoralizing,” according to the New York Daily News.
The Bronx District Attorney’s office told the Bronx Times that Alcantara-Santiago’s bail was set for $50,000 cash or a $75,000 insurance company bond or a $75,000 partially secured bond at 10%. Garcia’s bail was set at $30,000 cash or a $70,000 insurance company bond or a $70,000 partially secured bond at 10%. They’re due back in court on Friday, April 26.
The NYPD confirmed with the Bronx Times that both men are currently suspended from the force without pay.
This story was updated to clarify the defendants’ bail and include their next court date, as well as the officers’ station assignments.
Reach Camille Botello at cbotello@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
