Guards Say Top Adams Aide Threatened Them After Having Them Arrested

Two security guards said the aide, Timothy Pearson, attacked them then had them arrested. Federal agents seized his cellphone last week as part of a separate investigation.

Last fall, a senior adviser to Mayor Eric Adams was seen physically attacking several security guards at a Midtown migrant shelter. Under his apparent command, the police arrested two of the guards.

Within two weeks, the charges were dropped, and the city Department of Investigation began looking into the conduct of the adviser, Timothy Pearson, one of the mayor’s closest confidants and a retired police inspector who still holds significant sway over the Police Department.

But Mr. Pearson’s questionable behavior did not end at the shelter. He made a previously unreported visit to the Midtown South precinct station house, according to the guards and two people familiar with the matter.

There, he confronted the guards, Leesha Bell and Terrence Rosenthal, as they stood handcuffed in front of the precinct’s desk while their arrests were being processed.

“I told you all I’ll have your jobs,” Mr. Pearson said, according to Ms. Bell, then a security tour commander who recalled the exchange in her first interview since the October incident.

A short while later, the Midtown South precinct commander visited Ms. Bell in her cell at Mr. Pearson’s request, and said Mr. Pearson wanted to speak to her. The commander said Mr. Pearson had suggested that mutual apologies were in order, and that if she didn’t acquiesce, she might not be released.