Retired NYPD officer who officials said bragged he was one of the most corrupt cops expected to make bail newsday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Forum Staff
A nine-count indictment was unsealed Monday in Brooklyn federal court charging Heather Busch, Robert Hassett, and Robert Smith with five counts of using interstate facilities to commit bribery and two counts of conspiracy to violate the Travel Act. Smith is also charged with attempting to transport at least one kilogram of heroin and possessing a firearm during the commission of that crime, according to federal prosecutors.
During the relevant period, Smith, Busch, and Hassett were City Police officers assigned to the 105th Precinct in Southeast Queens. Smith retired from the NYPD in March 2020.
Beginning in September 2016, NYPD Officers Smith and Hassett responded to automobile accidents by allegedly directing the damaged vehicles to a licensed tow trucking and automobile repair business (the “Business”) operated by an individual (the “Individual”), instead of using the NYPD’s Directed Accident Response Program (“DARP”), which requires NYPD officers t
Tom Hays
The Associated Press
NEW YORK – A white New York City police officer once bragged about trying to scare Black people for kicks by randomly pointing his gun at them while on the job, federal prosecutors said Tuesday in announcing corruption charges against the officer and two others who worked together at the same precinct.
In court papers, prosecutors quoted a text that Robert Smith allegedly sent following his retirement in 2020 recounting how he would point his gun out his car window at people he described using a version of the N-word.
He would “watch their reaction and drive away,” he wrote. “Hilarious.”
Robert Smith, 44, who was accused of running a scheme that moved cars from crashes to a specific tow truck company in exchange for bribes, was ordered released on a $1.5 million bond by Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak.