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A police officer from New York State has been criminally charged after investigators say she sent threatening text messages to herself, falsely claiming her colleagues had sent them.
Emily Hirshowitz, 36, of the Ossining Police Department was released Wednesday (Jun. 28) after appearing before the Westchester District Attorney’s office, according to the Westchester Journal News.
Her attorney, Paul DerOhannesian, told the outlet that there is still “a lot of mystery and confusion surrounding the allegations in this case.”
In May 2022, Hirshowitz reportedly made a written complaint to the DA’s Office. She reportedly accused her fellow officers of anonymously sending harassing and threatening text messages to her cell phone.
Then in July and August, she complained again–giving authorities screenshots of the threatening text messages.
The messages labeled Emily a “dumb b***h, and “reject,” amongst other names. Several texts urged her to commit suicide, per the criminal complaint.
Emily had attempted to withdraw the complaint in Aug. 2022. But her superiors took the threatening text seriously and called a mandatory meeting for all department members weeks later.
Not long after, investigators discovered–via phone records–that Hirshowitz controlled several of the numbers behind the messages. The outlet reports that a search warrant was issued for her phone and Apple iCloud account in October.
Investigators suspect Hirshowitz to be behind eight of the 11 screengrabs she provided to authorities.
The Journal reports that a different individual, known to the DA’s Office, was linked to the other three. However, a footnote stated that prosecutors “cannot pursue criminal charges related to those text messages at this time.”
Meanwhile, Hirshowitz was charged with three counts of first-degree filing a false instrument, a felony. She was also charged with four misdemeanor counts of third-degree falsely reporting an incident.
The Ossining Police Department suspended Emily with pay last week due to the investigation. Her motive behind the text messages has yet to be revealed as of Monday. According to her attorney, she is scheduled to appear in court again on July 12.
Emily joined Ossining PD in 2016. She was honored two years later as an Employee of the Year by the Rotary Club of Ossining.
