Disgraced ex-cop arrested on criminal contempt charges

<p>A disgraced former NYPD officer from Islip who was convicted in a massive drug shakedown decades ago was arrested again Monday night.<span style="color:black; font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:10.0pt; line-height:105%; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin"> </span></p>

News 12 Staff

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May 30, 2017, 3:24 PM

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Updated 2,733 days ago

A disgraced former NYPD officer from Islip who was convicted in a massive drug shakedown decades ago was arrested again Monday night.

Michael Dowd made headlines as one of the "dirtiest cops in NYPD history." He served more than a decade behind bars for running a drug ring while serving as an officer in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

He was arrested again for allegedly violating an order of protection stemming from a domestic violence incident. News 12 has reported that Dowd was arrested twice in recent months after allegedly trying to strangle a Connecticut woman he had been dating. That woman has an order of protection against Dowd.

Dowd allegedly violated that order of protection on Friday by posting a message on a public post that woman made on Instagram.

That woman, who was present at Dowd's arraignment Tuesday, told News 12 that he "won't leave her alone."

Dowd's attorney James O'Rourke says it's the woman who is "emotionally ill."

"He is trying to change his life around, has met each and every obligation of the court and I think, ultimately, this will be shown to be a woman who is using the order of protection not as a shield, but a sword," says O'Rourke.

Dowd's website says he is "again working with the NYPD as a consultant." When asked if that's true, an NYPD spokesman emailed back, "No."

The judge set Dowd's bail at $5,000.