BRONX NEWS: Ticket-fixing scandal could nix drug case

Two Bronx cops mixed up in the ticket-fixing scandal could force prosecutors to drop their case against a suspected crack dealer, sources said.

The accused 23-year-old dealer was carrying at least six baggies of crack cocaine when Officers Harry Delacruz and Orlando Colon caught him slinging outside 1720 University Ave. in Morris Heights in January of last year, court records show.

The testimony of both officers, along with the drugs they confiscated, would typically be enough to score a conviction. But Delacruz and Colon were investigated as part of a massive probe into ticket fixing, sources said.

The cops drew the attention of Internal Affairs Bureau investigators after their names came up in the wiretapped phone calls of union delegates, sources said.

It’s not clear whether the cops committed any wrongdoing.

The Bronx district attorney’s office, which is expected to prosecute 17 cops as part of the probe, is hesitant to put either officer on the stand, sources said.

“Especially in DWI and narcotics cases, the ticket-fixing issue is killing the DA’s office,” a law enforcement source said.

Prosecutors will decide in January whether to go forward with the drug case, sources said.

kdeutsch@nydailynews.com