The NYPD took his badge and gun — because they thought he might one day pick up the bottle.
A Staten Island man with no history of alcoholism claims he was canned after a department psychologist gazed into his Cristal ball and ruled the cop had the makings of a “future” alcoholic.
Timothy Silo, 42, said seeing NYPD shrink Casey Stewart in 2010 was a nightmare.
Silo and five other probationary officers were ordered to report to department psychologists after a December 2009 incident in which the group was attacked by thugs outside a bar following a department holiday party.
Silo never went inside the bar, and none of the officers was accused of wrongdoing — but Stewart allegedly considered Silo guilty until proven innocent, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit Silo filed last week.
Stewart spent more than eight hours grilling Silo about his drinking habits and his father’s alcoholism, and berating him as a liar when he insisted he had only consumed two drinks at the holiday party, according to the court papers.
Even though a second psychologist overruled Stewart and declared Silo fit for duty, months later, the determined Stewart kept pushing.
Stewart apparently decided Silo would become an alcoholic one day — and recommended the probationary officer be fired, according to court papers.
The NYPD was a second career for Silo, who spent 13 years in sales and marketing before joining the force in 2008. He hasn’t found work since his 2011 firing, he claims in the lawsuit.
“The system misfired in this case,” said his lawyer, Rae Koshetz.
None of the other officers involved in the December 2009 incident were fired, Silo says in his suit against the city and Stewart, which seeks $5 million damages.
Stewart declined to comment on the lawsuit. The city Law Department said it was reviewing the court papers.