Tainted cop’s desk ‘ticket’
Slap tied to bogus probes of crimes
AN NYPD detective who allegedly made up witnesses and fake addresses to close felony theft cases in Queens has been stripped of his gun and shield and relegated to desk duty, police said Friday.
Detective Thomas Rice, 45, was sidelined Thursday night amid an Internal Affairs Bureau probe of whether he worked his Long Island off-duty snow plowing and power-washing business on NYPD time.
Rice’s lawyer confirmed his client was assigned to desk duty after allegedly burying grand larceny cases during his time as a detective at the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park, Queens.
Attorney James Moschella said the NYPD made the move “solely in relation to the yearsold allegation ... that he, on a handful of cases out of hundreds he was assigned to investigate, and only those involving the theft of property left in vehicles, said he canvassed for video or witnesses, when it is alleged he did not conduct any such canvass.”
The NYPD declined to say why Rice was transferred to desk duty.
The Queens District Attorney’s office is investigating the allegations against Rice, but so far no criminal charges have been filed.
The detective earned infamy for filling dozens of grand larceny and auto theft investigation reports with fake witness names and addresses between 2011 and 2012 to make it look like he thoroughly investigated each case.
Rice — who the Daily News famously photographed in “A Christmas Story” pajama bottoms — claimed he’d interviewed witnesses and tracked down leads, but all of that detective work existed only on paper.
Despite his egregious lack of work ethic, the NYPD went light on him, docking him just 20 vacation days and transferring him to 67th Precinct patrol, The News reported in January. He was able to keep his detective rank.
The leaders of his union, the Detectives Endowment Association, were so angry at The News’ coverage of Rice that they took out a billboard on Wall St. depicting a puppy urinating on a copy of the newspaper.
“Finally ... A use for the Daily News,” the billboard read.
But the victims of the crimes Rice failed to investigate did not think his handling of their cases was so funny.
Shivani Collado, 31, the victim of an unsolved car break-in in May 2012, said she was glad the NYPD moved Rice to a desk job.
“What he did was wrong and in that situation they needed to make an example and put faith back into the justice system,” Collado said.
“I’m happy they didn’t hide it or brush it under the rug and they did the right thing.”
The NYPD has yet to apologize to any of the victims of the 22 cases Rice tanked.
The Internal Affairs probe comes just a few weeks before Rice was to celebrate his 20th year with the NYPD, which would make him eligible to receive a pension worth 50% of his current salary for life.
Rice, who made $113,735 from the NYPD in 2017, owns a company called Island-Wide Pressure Washing. Internal Affairs has been probing whether he was being paid by the city while he plowed snow or cleaned aluminum siding on Long Island.
Moschella said “to his knowledge,” the move to desk duty had nothing to do with his off-duty employment.
“We are disappointed with his modification in as much as Detective Rice has already been disciplined by the department for these transgressions,” Moschella said.
Rice “has performed admirably in the six years since then while assigned to the 67th Precinct, and has been utterly and maliciously humiliated and vilified by the Daily News in the last several months,” Moschella said. “If your goal was to destroy this young man’s life and career, congratulations — you have succeeded.”
A retired cop said the NYPD’s handing of the Rice case was questionable.
“This whole case shows that the NYPD disciplinary process isn’t fair and isn’t on the level,” he said. “Whatever Rice gets, he deserves. He can blame nobody but himself.”
Rank-and-file cops have long complained that the NYPD’s disciplinary system is arbitrary and capricious — a realm where people who have connections in the department are favored and those who don’t get hammered.