A longtime Bronx preschool teacher — snared in an NYPD sting operation — lost her job after she literally got left holding the bag.
The trouble for Fermina Pena began in April when her co-worker, Sabina Deleon, met with undercover cops inside a McDonald’s on E. 204th St. in Norwood. Deleon, according to court papers, agreed to buy a “stolen” iPad mini for $100.
Pena, 43, was walking from a supermarket during her lunch break, returning to work at the Monsignor Boyle Little Angels Head Start program. She ran into Deleon, who had just exited the fast-food joint.
Deleon, 41, asked Pena to hold the gadget. Then Pena placed the iPad alongside some potato chips in her plastic grocery bag. The cops pounced on a group of teachers and demanded to see some identification. The women complied and were released.
“It hurt me a lot that a little boy who was waiting for his dad saw me getting arrested,” Pena told the Daily News.
“I didn’t know what she bought was stolen,” added Pena, a mother of two who is married to a retired NYPD sergeant. “I feel the police had me confused with someone or they should have investigated more.”
