A clueless cop who had his own car torched to collect the insurance money sabotaged himself by taking his mobile phone to the crime scene.

The NYPD officer, Madalin Niculae, 28, was charged with a number of offences after investigators determined he was in Jersey City when his car went up in the flames by checking his mobile phone records. He was subsequently suspended by the NYPD and ordered to surrender his U.S. and Romanian passports.

The investigation began after Niculae’s car was found burning on 3 August at a desolate intersection in Jersey City. Niculae claimed he had parked the car near his home and didn’t report it missing until 4 August because he figured it had been towed. He told the same story to the NYPD and his insurer.

Confronted with his phone records, Niculae admitted to dumping his car in Jersey City on 2 August so it could be stolen or vandalized. He returned the following day with “another individual” who had offered to burn the car. While he waited a few blocks away, the unnamed individual torched the car and later advised Niculae that it had “blown up”. The unnamed individual subsequently advised investigators Niculae wanted the car gone because he could no longer afford to keep it.

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