Bedbugs Infest 78th Precinct’s Holding Cell

It wouldn’t be summer without a bedbug infestation, but this time the creepy crawlers bit some crooks while they were locked up in the 78th precinct’s holding cells, according to the precinct’s Executive Officer, Captain Julio Ordonez.

“On Friday night, a couple of perpetrators complained about bites on their arms. We notified Central Booking and we closed them down to be fumigated,” Captain Ordonez told Patch.

Ordonez explained that when they learned about the infestation, they notified building maintenance, closed the cells and they will be fumigated on Thursday.

The 78th precinct usually tests the blood-alcohol levels of people who were arrested for DWIs in Brooklyn, but for the time being, Ordonez said, DWI arrests will be sent to the 120th precinct on Staten Island.

The juvenile holding cell was not affected, but adult offenders, except for DWI offenders, will be sent to the 72nd precinct on Fourth Avenue for processing until the cells are sterilized.

The New York Post first reported the bedbug problem earlier on Wednesday.

The 78th precinct does not know how the bedbugs infested its holding cells, but Ordonez said the problem should not last long.

“I can’t say where the bedbugs came from, the perpetrator was saying he got chewed up and we haven’t had a problem prior to this,” Ordonez said. “Just to proceed on the side of caution, we had to close both holding cells for everyone’s safety.”

The bedbugs have not spread to any other areas in the stationhouse on Bergen Street and Sixth Avenue, except for the two cells on the first floor.

“We had a problem in the cell area and that’s where it was maintained,” Ordonez explained. “We haven’t had any other incidents, accounts or allegations of bedbugs being anywhere else.”