These real-life cop partners were no Will Smith and Martin Lawrence but they were bad boys -- very bad boys, according to police and prosecutors.
Philadelphia police and the U.S. Attorney's Office announced yesterday the arrest of former cop Sydemy Joanis, 27, on robbery, firearms and drug charges for allegedly conspiring while on duty with his partner, Jonathan Garcia, to rob drug dealers between December 2009 and June 2012.
Garcia, 23, was arrested last June on similar charges -- and on charges that he allegedly sold heroin numerous times, including once across the street from the 17th District headquarters on 20th Street near Federal in Point Breeze, where he and Joanis worked.
The investigation against Joanis, who resigned from the department after his partner's arrest last year, has been ongoing.
U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger declined to comment on whether Garcia, who's been in custody since his arrest, fingered his partner in the alleged robberies or if he's been cooperating with authorities while in custody.
On at least five occasions, Garcia and Joanis set up or stopped people they believed to be drug dealers, according to court documents. They would arrest the alleged dealers, pocket part or all of the drugs and cash they seized, and then prepare false police reports and property receipts, prosecutors said.
"I consider this a great day, a good day," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said. "Any day we can rid our ranks of a corrupt police officer is a good day."
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McClatchy-Tribune News Service
