A Nassau County Police Officer from the Third Precinct has been arrested after allegedly coercing a woman into touching him sexually during a traffic stop.

Garrett Mannerz, 34, was arrested Wednesday morning by the Nassau County Police Department Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) and charged with receiving a bribe in the third degree, official misconduct, second degree coercion, and third degree sexual abuse.

Mannerz faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. He is due back in court June 29. Mannerz has been Nassau County Police Officer since November 2005.

According to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, on Feb. 27 Mannerz stopped a vehicle that was travelling in the vicinity of Hempstead Turnpike and Newbridge Road in East Meadow carrying three women in their early 20s. After performing sobriety tests on the driver, Mannerz allegedly ordered one of the passengers out of the car, commented on her attire, and asked for her telephone number.

Rice said that Mannerz then told the woman to walk over to his patrol car where he told her that if she “did something for him,” then he would allow the driver to leave the location without receiving a summons or being charged criminally. Mannerz then grabbed the woman’s wrist and made her touch him sexually. He also arranged to call her to set up a “date.”

Mannerz let the three women drive away but within two hours, Mannerz made several sexually suggestive telephone calls to the passenger he had grabbed, Rice said. He was arrested after the victim recorded one of the calls and brought it to police.

The case was investigated by the Nassau District Attorney’s Office Public Corruption Bureau in conjunction with the IAU.

“This is a shocking case of a policeman abusing his power,” Rice said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “This defendant was supposed to serve and protect the people, but chose instead to disgrace himself and the honest, hard-working members of the Nassau County Police Department with his abhorrent behavior.” 

This charge is only an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.