FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Off-Duty NYPD Officer Indicted for Insurance Fraud After
He Allegedly Attested Falsely that His Car Was Stolen
Defendant’s BMW Convertible Was Found Torched Two Days
Before the Date He Claimed Under Oath That He Used It Last
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a New York City Police Department officer has been indicted for insurance fraud, falsifying business records and related charges for allegedly filing a false insurance claim, stating his vehicle was stolen when, in fact, the same car was found burned down at an earlier date.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Insurance fraud victimizes both the insurer and paying customers that get hit with higher premiums. That this crime was allegedly committed by a police officer is troublesome because we demand honesty and integrity from all of our law enforcement officials. We intend to hold this defendant accountable and continue to investigate every instance of fraud or misconduct.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Police Officer Kirk Peddie, 43, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, a 15-year veteran of the NYPD who was assigned to the 66th Precinct patrol unit at the time of the incident. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an 11-count indictment in which he is charged with third- and fourth-degree insurance fraud, first-degree falsifying business records, third-degree attempted grand larceny and related counts. The defendant was released without bail and ordered to return to court on October 23, 2019. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of the top count.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on December 25, 2016 the defendant called 911 to report that his BMW had been stolen and he filed two supporting depositions attesting to the fact that he had last seen and moved the vehicle to a parking spot near his residence on December 22, 2016. Subsequently, the defendant filed a claim with his insurance company, State Farm Mutual Automobile Company, which required him to submit an additional affidavit of vehicle theft. He again stated in that affidavit that he last saw the vehicle on December 22, 2016.
On December 20, 2016, the FDNY responded to a vehicular fire in East New York involving a 2006 BMW 650i convertible, which was later determined to be registered to the defendant.
On February 15, 2017, the Defendant was deposed in regards to his insurance claim and stated that he actually last moved his car on December 8, 2016. When confronted about the change of date, he admitted that he had no explanation for giving the factually impossible date in the above-mentioned documents.
The District Attorney thanked the NYPD and its Internal Affairs Bureau for the assistance in the investigation.
The case was investigated by Lieutenant John Orecchia of the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Peter Choi, formerly of the District Attorney’s Civil Right Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patrick L. O’Connor, Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Law Enforcement Accountability Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Christopher Eribo, Deputy Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney Joseph Alexis, Chief of Trials, and Executive Assistant District Attorney Tali Farhadian-Weinstein, General Counsel.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.