A veteran criminal investigator was forced to resign Tuesday when Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson made him the fall guy for media leaks that cast the thin-skinned prosecutor in a bad light, sources told The Post.
Anthony Schembri — a second-generation lawman whose dad inspired the 1990s TV show “The Commish” — was stripped of his badge and gun last week after being questioned about an exclusive Post report that revealed Thompson’s questionable use of his investigators, sources said.
The article detailed how Thompson ordered the highly skilled gumshoes to run personal errands for him, including picking up meals and laundry — and reassigned them to dead-end cases if they refused.
The 35-year-old Schembri denied being the source of the leaks, sources said.
He was also questioned about last month’s botched raid on a maraschino-cherry factory in Red Hook, where owner Arthur Mondella fatally shot himself when DA investigators found a secret pot farm hidden behind a fake wall.
Several other DA investigators in the raid were also questioned about Mondella’s suicide, sources said.
Schembri told Thompson’s cronies he had informed everyone involved in the raid that Mondella had a pistol permit, sources said.
But on Monday, he was called to another meeting and given the choice of quitting or getting fired.
“They made him out to be the scapegoat here. It’s politics, pure and simple,” said one source familiar with the DA’s internal investigation.
The source said Schembri — who was the DA’s “case officer” for the raid — “should have been disciplined” over Mondella’s suicide because “this guy could have shot a bunch of cops instead of shooting himself.
“But [Schembri] didn’t deserve to get fired, that’s for sure. He’s taking the fall all on his own and that’s sad,” the source added.
Another law-enforcement source described Schembri as “a good guy and a good investigator” who wasn’t in charge of the Mondella investigation and answered to higher-ups in the DA’s Office.
“He didn’t deserve what he got,” the source added.
A police source cautioned: “Thompson is going to make a lot of enemies out of the people who are supposed to have his back.”
Schembri is a former Westchester firefighter who responded to the 9/11 attacks. He was hired by DA Charles Hynes in 2005.
His dad, also named Anthony, is a former city correction commissioner who was the model for actor Michael Chiklis’ character on the comedy-drama that ran for five seasons on ABC.
The younger Schembri couldn’t be reached for comment. John Fleming, president of the New York City Detective Investigators’ Association, said only: “We’re still looking into the matter.”
Thompson’s office declined to comment.