A former NYPD member who previously worked in south Queens admitted in court on Tuesday that he made misleading statements on official paperwork regarding a series of car break-ins, prosecutors announced.
Thomas Rice, 44, formerly assigned to the 106th Precinct, pleaded guilty on June 19 to official misconduct. He was sentenced to a conditional discharge and waived his right to appeal.
On 11 different occasions between Jan. 1, 2013, and April 1, 2013, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said, Rice submitted official police report forms with false or misleading statements. Each case involved vehicle break-ins during which property had been reported stolen.
Law enforcement sources said that Rice closed the investigations without performing his due diligence. In the reports, Rice listed non-existent addresses as places he had interviewed witnesses and included the same names multiple times.
For example, the name “Harry Sadhadeo” appeared six times in his reports — twice as a male and four times as female — and it is believed that Rice made up this witness and others to include in his reports.
In May 2018, following a New York Daily News expose, Rice was disciplined by the NYPD, demoted from detective to police officer, suspended and forced to retire.
