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Holy mackerel! Cop who pulled gun on coworker for microwaving fish in office nets punishment

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Cite

O’Neill, J. (2026, November 1). Holy mackerel! Cop who pulled gun on coworker for microwaving fish in office nets punishment. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/11/01/us-news/cop-who-pulled-gun-on-coworker-for-microwaving-fish-in-office-nets-punishment/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-11-01 · by Jesse O’Neill

Quick Summary

Michael DeBiase, a 46-year-old detective for the Myrtle Beach Police Department, pleaded guilty to public disorderly conduct after pointing his department-issued handgun at a coworker who was microwaving fish, an incident that occurred this spring. As part of his plea agreement, DeBiase must surrender his police certification and is barred from seeking reinstatement in law enforcement. The article highlights how the simple act of warming up fish led to severe consequences for both the accused detective and the department’s reputation.
Written by AI on 2026-11-01, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Michael DeBiase, a 46-year-old detective with the Myrtle Beach Police Department, pleaded guilty to public disorderly conduct on Friday in connection with an incident this spring. During the confrontation, DeBiase accused an unnamed coworker of warming fish in the office microwave, causing an odor. He then drew and pointed his department-issued handgun at the colleague. As a result, DeBiase was placed on administrative leave immediately after the incident for investigations by the Myrtle Beach Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Under the plea deal, DeBiase must surrender his police certification and never seek reinstatement. The court documents do not specify if the gun was loaded or what type of fish was being heated.

Written for “Cop Punished For Fish Incident” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 121909 · logged 2026-11-01

Story

📰 Cop Punished For Fish Incident
Crime & Law · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
8
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
25%
2 of 8 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-01 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15921 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jesse O’Neill
26 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Also by Jesse O’Neill
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 26 articles by Jesse O’Neill →

Topics

Office of Professional Standards Post the Myrtle Beach Police Department the Myrtle Beach Police Department’s the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division

Subjects

DeBiase PERSON · 4× Michael DeBiase PERSON · 1× Office of Professional Standards ORG · 1× Post ORG · 1× the Myrtle Beach Police Department ORG · 1× the Myrtle Beach Police Department’s ORG · 1× the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division ORG · 1×

Narrative

“He was placed on administrative leave immediately following the incident while investigations were conducted by the Myrtle Beach Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division,” a statement released in June said.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-01

Claims (8 extracted, 2 hedged)

Michael DeBiase pleaded guilty Friday to public disorderly conduct in connection with the stink at the Myrtle Beach Police Department this spring, according to The Smoking Gun. uncertain
DeBiase → plead → Gun
Under the conditions of the plea deal, DeBiase must “surrender his … police certification and never seek reinstatement,” according to court documents signed by the disgraced detective. uncertain
DeBiase → surrender → detective
An arrest warrant showed that the 46-year-old cop had confronted the unnamed victim for “warming up fish in the microwave,” which caused “an odor in the office.” asserted
which → show → office
During the confrontation, “Detective DeBiase drew and pointed his department issued handgun” at the odoriferous offender, court documents said. asserted
documents → draw → offender
After DeBiase was charged with pointing and presenting a firearm at a person, his relationship with the department floundered. asserted
relationship → charge → department
“He was placed on administrative leave immediately following the incident while investigations were conducted by the Myrtle Beach Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division,” a statement released in June said. asserted
statement → place → June
The court documents do not reveal if DeBiase’s gun was loaded at the time or what type of fish his colleague had been heating up. asserted
colleague → reveal → fish
A previous Post report about return-to-office etiquette named heating up fish in the break room as a particularly egregious faux pas. asserted
report → return → pas
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