Prosecutors say Officer Luis Triunfel later accessed restricted police systems to track the burglary investigation and searched for his own name.
NEW YORK CITY, NY — An NYPD officer has been arrested and accused of burglarizing a Bronx apartment, taking a safe containing about $48,000 in cash and gold jewelry and later using department databases to follow the investigation into the theft, according to police and court records.
Officer Luis Triunfel, 33, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 17 counts, including second-degree burglary, third-degree grand larceny, tampering with physical evidence and 14 counts of computer trespass. He was released on his own recognizance after his arraignment and ordered to surrender his passport. The NYPD suspended him without pay, according to the department.
The criminal complaint says Triunfel entered a first-floor apartment on Boynton Avenue in the Soundview section of the Bronx around 12:15 a.m. Aug. 31. Investigators allege he removed a shopping cart holding a black metal safe secured with a key lock. The safe contained about $9,500 in cash and $38,500 in gold jewelry, along with personal documents including a passport, Social Security card and U.S. permanent resident card, according to court records. Some reports said vehicle titles also were inside.
Authorities allege Triunfel’s use of police resources began before the burglary. According to the criminal complaint, he used his department-issued device on Aug. 30 to run a license plate search connected to the person whose home was later burglarized. Investigators said the search was not related to Triunfel’s official duties.
Prosecutors say Triunfel returned to the apartment later on Aug. 31 and interfered with the building’s surveillance system after video had captured the alleged burglary. News 12 reported that court records accuse him of erasing surveillance footage. The evidence-tampering allegation is among the charges he now faces.
Investigators also accuse Triunfel of repeatedly accessing NYPD systems after the burglary was reported. The complaint says he opened the police report connected to the burglary on Sept. 3 and accessed it several more times on Sept. 7. On Sept. 14, investigators allege, he searched for his own name in the NYPD’s Domain Awareness System. Prosecutors say Triunfel was not assigned to investigate the burglary and had no official reason to conduct the searches.
Triunfel was arrested Sept. 14. He had been assigned to the NYPD’s 28th Precinct, which covers part of Central Harlem in Manhattan. Reports citing police records said he joined the department in 2024. The allegations involve conduct outside the precinct where he worked and center on a private residence in the Bronx.
One of the people whose property was taken told News 12 that she and her sons had been away and discovered the loss after returning home. She asked the station not to identify her. Her account provided additional detail about the impact of the burglary, but the criminal charges against Triunfel remain allegations and have not been proven in court.
Triunfel’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment reported by several news organizations. He pleaded not guilty, and no defense account explaining the alleged searches, surveillance-system activity or removal of the safe had been made public in the reports reviewed. Authorities also had not announced whether the missing cash, jewelry or personal documents had been recovered.
The case remains pending in Bronx Criminal Court. Triunfel is due back in court Oct. 24, according to News 12. He remains suspended without pay while the criminal case and related investigation continue.
Author note: Last updated September 17, 2026.