**It’s NYPD-boo! How a Cop-Turned-Demonologist Cleared a Haunted Harlem Precinct**
Chris DeFlorio, a former NYPD officer turned full-time demonologist, is sharing for the first time how he rid his old precinct—the 32nd Precinct in Harlem—of a malevolent spirit that had been tormenting officers for years.
DeFlorio, 54, left the police force in 2021 and has since been battling the supernatural alongside his wife, Harmony. But one of his final missions while still in uniform resembled a scene straight out of *Ghostbusters*.
It all began when a rookie officer working the midnight shift reported a terrifying encounter inside the precinct’s fourth-floor bunk room.
“The officer had just finished his shift and instead of going home, he decided to take a break upstairs,” DeFlorio recalled. “He was sleeping in the bunk room when he felt something walking behind him. He jumped up, looked around, but no one was there.”
Trying to shake off the feeling, the officer went back to sleep—only to be gripped moments later.
“Something was holding him down and bouncing on the couch he was lying on,” said DeFlorio, who devoted 20 years to the NYPD. “He escaped, hit the lights, and still didn’t see anyone. But as he looked toward the door, he saw the shadow of a person walking out.”
The chilling encounter, which took place on May 8, 2020, quickly spread through the station house. Byron Pena, a retired officer with his own eerie experiences in the precinct, said he felt relieved that action would finally be taken against the spirit.
“After hearing the story, I stopped the officer in the stairwell to ask what happened,” Pena, 58, told The Post. “Years ago, during the early 2000s blackout, I slept in that dorm room upstairs and couldn’t sleep all night. I kept feeling uneasy—I kept looking at the door and window. There was just this unexplainable presence.”
Petrified by that feeling, Pena never set foot in the bunk room again during his 28 years at the precinct.
Then, in the early hours of May 10, 2020, precinct administrators called on DeFlorio to perform an exorcism.
“When I walked into that bunk room, it was like nothing you can sense with your physical senses,” DeFlorio said. “You just know you’re in the presence of evil. I knew then the officer wasn’t exaggerating—I wasn’t sure if I’d come out alive.”
Armed with holy water, frankincense, and an ancient Catholic exorcism prayer, DeFlorio battled the demon for an hour.
“Afterwards, you could walk into that room and it felt completely different—lighter,” he said. “When fighting something demonic, you have to come in with something good from God.”
Since that night, DeFlorio said the precinct has been peaceful—no more whispers, screams, or howls.
“It was successful,” he confirmed.
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*Stay tuned for more stories from those living at the crossroads of law enforcement and the supernatural.*
https://nypost.com/2025/10/25/us-news/nyc-cop-turned-ghostbuster-tells-all-about-evil-spirit-at-nypd-precinct/
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