Three NYPD officers were busted on Tuesday for running a tow truck bribe scheme to provide personal information about the accident victims while on duty.
Heather Busch, 34, Robert Hassett, 36, and Robert Smith, 44, all of 105, were charged with five counts of using interstate facilities to pay bribes and two counts of conspiracy to violate the Travel Act.
Smith, who is allegedly identified with the Ku Klux Klan, is also accused of transporting at least one kilogram of heroin after retiring in March 2020 and possessing firearms during that crime.
In a statement the acting U.S. Attorney for the District Attorney of Eastern New York said, “Defendants shamelessly violated public trust by trading bills for their position and cash payments.”
According to Brooklyn federal prosecutors, in early 2016, Smith and Hassett responded to the scenes of the car accident and directed a specific tow truck and auto repair company to remove the damaged vehicles in exchange for a cash payment of thousands of dollars.
Authorities bypassed the NYPD’s Directed Accident Response Program, which requires police to use a computer program that selects a random licensing business for any company to receive the preferred treatment.
On the eve of Smith’s retirement, he reportedly recruited Bush to replace him in a bribery racket. Busch agreed and began working with Hassett to run the tow truck company’s business, which is not named in court papers.
In another scheme, Smith and Hassett identified names that allegedly obtained information on automobile accident victims by hacking into the NYPD database. Authorities said they sold the data to the same co-conspirators in the tow truck scheme, which sold the information to personal injury lawyers and physiotherapists. According to prosecutors, the pair allegedly earned $ 7,000 for handing over the personal information of 100 victims.
After retiring, Smith allegedly graduated to more serious crime, a firearms, while agreeing to smuggle heroin to a criminal organization while the court papers charge.
In July 2020, he allegedly picked up a bag in Brooklyn that he believed contained one kilo of heroin and, according to Brooklyn prosecutors, gave it to a man in Queens in return for $ 1200.
He doubted that federal authorities were investigating him and captured audio and video recordings, allegedly threatening to “shoot” a suspected moat, prosecutors wrote in a detention memo.
According to the memo, when he was an active officer, Smith participated in other undisclosed offenses, including the “robbery and shakedown” of individuals and businesses.
In a series of text messages, Smith allegedly bragged that he enjoyed flashing his gun to “terrorize” black people and reportedly identified with the Ku Klux Klan.
“Now real [S]Myth will shine. I also got my head shaved. Klan, “he reportedly wrote in a message after his retirement.
NYPD Commissioner of Police Dermot Shea condemned the alleged misconduct.
“There is zero tolerance towards any kind of corruption in NYPD,” he said in a statement.
If convicted, Smith would face a prison sentence. Hacie and Busch each serve up to five years in prison on the basis of bribery and conspiracy counts.
The trio pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday. Smith was ordered held without bail and Hassett and Bush were each released on $ 200,000 bond.
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