Police Sergeant Earning Over $200,000 a Year Caught Stealing $15 Cough Medicine, Suspended Without Pay

Nassau County, NY – A 41-year-old sergeant, Rayna Madho, was suspended without pay by the New York Police Department after being arrested on Saturday night in Long Island, Nassau County, New York State.

Reportedly, Rayna was charged with two counts of petty larceny for incidents that took place at a Target store in Valley Stream. One incident occurred on November 24, and the other on December 7.

She is accused of stealing Zarbee’s cough syrup, priced at $9.99, and Ricola cough drops, which sell for $4.99—a total theft of about $15.

In 2024, during the fiscal year, she reportedly earned over $201,000, with a base salary of approximately $126,000, $55,000 in overtime, and $20,000 in other pay.

At the time of her arrest, Rayna was assigned to the Special Investigations Unit Photographic Squad, where her responsibilities included arranging photo arrays for detectives investigating cases and handling photo IDs at Police Headquarters. She joined the unit on March 25, 2022.

She is also said to be the vice president of the influential Desi Society, an NYPD fraternal group representing officers of South Asian heritage.

Previously, Rayna worked in detective squads in the 7th and 13th Precincts and two commands in Brooklyn.

Madho was born in Trinidad and moved to the United States when she was 12 years old.

She has been a defendant in five civil lawsuits that settled for a total of $161,000. In one of those suits, filed in 2019, video allegedly showed Madho dropping a pill bottle in a car while her police partner arrested motorist Abdul Pullium in 2015, according to Gothamist.

Pullium’s lawyer alleged that the video showed officers planting the bottle. The suit settled for $7,500—a relatively small amount compared to other police settlements.

Madho joined the NYPD in January 2006. She was promoted to detective and sergeant in 2013 and to detective squad commander in 2021.