An NYPD traffic officer arrested Tuesday following allegations that he drugged and raped a 17-year-old girl was released without charge Wednesday night after the Bronx district attorney's office deferred prosecution due to insufficient evidence.
Charles Taylor, 25, of the Bronx, was arrested Tuesday night in Brooklyn after allegedly drugging a teenager on a date and then having sex with her when she passed out. After discovering the incident occurred in the Bronx, Brooklyn prosecutors sent the case to District Attorney Robert Johnson's office, where it was put on hold.
"We spoke to the victim and we've spoken with the detectives and we've decided there is insufficient evidence at this time to proceed with the case," Steven Reed, a spokesman for the Bronx prosecutor's office, told The Huffington Post. "The prosecution has been deferred."
The office's decision to defer charging Taylor comes days after WNYC reported Johnson's office dropped charges in nearly 25 percent of its cases last year, a rate far higher than in other boroughs. Ten percent of those cases were abandoned for insufficient evidence.
WNYC's report said it is an office policy to only give victims 24 hours after an arrest is made to come forward. Reed declined to say whether or not the alleged victim was uncooperative.
When she spoke to police, the alleged victim said she met Taylor when he was patrolling Brooklyn South last week. After texting for a few days, the two met Sunday for dinner before driving around the city, the New York Daily News reports. According to the alleged victim, she lost track of where they were when they stopped at an apartment building. The teen then told police that Taylor brought her wine and after drinking it, she blacked out, then later woke up while he was raping her.
Doctors called police after the victim went to a Brooklyn hospital following the attack, according to the Daily News.
After being questioned Tuesday night, Taylor was arrested.
A four-year veteran of NYPD's traffic division, Taylor was suspended without pay after his arrest. It was unclear Thursday afternoon if his suspension was still in effect despite not being charged.
UPDATE: A police spokesman told The Huffington Post that Taylor is still under suspension without pay pending investigation.