Former Queens NYPD officers plead guilty to corruption charges
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Three former NYPD officers based in the 105th Precinct pleaded guilty to collecting bribes from a tow truck company. Photo via Google Maps
By Jacob Kaye
The final of three former NYPD officers from Queens 105th Precinct pleaded guilty last week to selling car crash victims’ personal information to a tow truck company for cash, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Jacquelyn Kasulis announced.
Robert Hassett, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to a scheme perpetrated by fellow officers Heather Busch and Robert Smith, according to Kasulis. Busch pleaded guilty to the charges in August and Smith, who also trafficked heroin, pleaded guilty to all charges against him in October.
“The defendants’ guilty pleas to accepting bribes are also acknowledgements that they abused the public trust and dishonored the NYPD by their actions,” Kasulis said in a statement.
The scheme kicked off in 2016, when Hassett and Smith contacted an unidentified tow truck and auto repair company whenever they came across a car crash in their precinct, bypassing the NYPD’s Directed Accident Response Program, the charges state.
In exchange for passing along business, the officers got paid by the tow company.
Though the pair ended the scheme in 2017, Smith again contacted the company for a period of time in 2019 until his retirement in March 2020, when he asked Busch to continue the corruption in his stead, the charges say.
In early 2020, Hassett and Smith also began going through the NYPD’s crash victims database and sending personal information to a buyer who then passed the information along to physical therapy businesses and personal injury lawyers.
After his retirement, Smith trafficked a kilogram of heroin from his native Long Island, where all three officers lived, into Queens.
Smith appeared before the Civilian Complaint Review Board numerous times dating back to 1998, data compiled by the NYCLU shows. Though 51 complaints have been made against him, only two were substantiated by the board.
In both cases, Smith was found to have used discourteous or offensive language to a member of the public.
Busch landed in front of the CCRB twice. Both complaints against her were truncated, meaning the board was unable to get an in-person statement from the alleged victims.
Hasset has been accused on seven occasions of using either excessive force or abusing his power. The CCRB found all his complaints to be either unfounded or truncated.
Busch and Hassett, who were active members of the NYPD at the time of their arrest in May, have since retired.
As part of their plea deals, Smith has agreed to forfeit $20,000, Hassett has agreed to forfeit $10,000 and Busch has agreed to forfeit $6,000.
Hassett and Busch each face up to five years in prison and Smith faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
