Off-duty NYPD cop who sparked fatal crash had just left bar: lawsuit

A woman who says NYPD cops deliberately botched the investigation of a deadly drunk-driving crash to protect an off-duty cop now has a smoking gun in her lawsuit — thanks to the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, the Daily News has learned.

Internal Affairs Bureau records obtained by Nia Jasmine Reynolds’ lawyers reveal cellphone GPS data that puts the off-duty cop blamed in the Brooklyn crash in a bar minutes before, new court filings reveal.

Former officer Rohan Shaw is accused of T-boning a Mazda with his white 2019 Nissan GT-R in East Flatbush on Dec. 8, 2019, a crash that severely injured Reynolds and killer her best friend, Joanna Dixon.

Officers at the scene tested Shaw with an uncalibrated Breathalyzer machine and failed to take a timely blood sample, Reynolds alleges in a lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

As a result, it was impossible to determine how drunk Shaw was at the time of the 5 a.m. collision, the lawsuit charges. Dixon was killed just three days after her 23rd birthday. She and Reynolds were returning home from celebrating another friend’s birthday when the crash occurred.

Reynolds believes the officers deliberately tampered with the evidence to spare Shaw from being prosecuted. Drunk or drugged motorists blamed in fatal crashes are nearly the only people who can be charged under New York’s vehicular homicide law.

But “more than 500 previously unknown electronic records, including the parallel internal (NYPD) investigation about the handling of the motor vehicle accident” now proves that Shaw was at a bar before the crash and that his speech was slurred when he called 911, says Reynolds’ lawyer, Eric Sanders.

Additionally, Sanders said, officers did not activate their body worn cameras when responding to the scene.

The discoveries bolster Reynold’s case, the lawyer said.

“Now that we know the dirty little secret of the responding police officers intentionally tampering with evidence to protect retired Police Officer Shaw from criminal prosecution, what is the mayor and police commissioner going to do about holding these officers’ accountable?” Sanders asked.

“The officers should have been criminally prosecuted and terminated. It’s disgraceful.”

Reynolds and Dixon were riding in the backseat of the Mazda when Shaw’s sports car slammed into them at Foster Ave. and E. 55th St., authorities said.

The Mazda driver had just rolled through a stop sign into Shaw’s path and was turning left onto Foster Ave., police said at the time. The crash sent the Mazda careening into a telephone pole.

The Mazda’s driver and another passenger in the car fled, leaving the two injured women behind. Medics rushed Dixon to Brookdale University Hospital, where she died.

Reynolds, now 26, was taken to Kings County Hospital for five hours of surgery to repair her crushed pelvis. She also suffered from bleeding on the brain, a fractured skull, four broken ribs and a lacerated liver, court papers state.

She was hospitalized for a month, still suffers from hearing loss and “has been unable to bear any weight on her legs,” the lawsuit states.

Reynold later settled a lawsuit against the Mazda driver who fled.

Dixon died “because of the recklessness of an employee of the NYPD,” Reynolds told The News in 2021. “This is just a nightmare. Everyone should be held accountable for their actions. There are consequences in life, no matter what your stature.”

Shaw, 50, remained at the scene and was initially charged with criminally negligent homicide, vehicular manslaughter, reckless driving, speeding and driving while impaired by alcohol.

The charges were dropped after the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office declined to prosecute, claiming there was “insufficient evidence to prove (Shaw) was intoxicated (and) the initial responding officer did not note any indication of impairment/intoxication and deemed fit for duty,” according to the suit.

A spokeswoman for the Brooklyn DA’s office did not return a request for comment last week but previously said the case “remains under review.”

The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau looked into the crash because Shaw was initially arrested. The NYPD duty captain of the night of the crash also contacted the bureau after the Breathalyzer malfunction.

In its probe, Internal Affairs Bureau investigators collected GPS tracking data that was synced to Shaw’s phone. The data revealed the off-duty cop was at the Brooklyn Prime Bar on Farragut Road in Brooklyn.

“(He) remained there for more than three hours where he became intoxicated consuming alcohol prior to the motor vehicle accident,” the lawsuit charges.

After the crash, Shaw called the Brooklyn Prime Bar, according to cellphone data collected by IAB. Shaw reached out to a manager at the Prime Bar to ask them to lie about his being there if approached by police, Reynolds alleges in court papers.

Next, Shaw called 911 on a recorded line, Reynolds alleges. When Shaw spoke, his speech was slurred, the electronic documents revealed.

The Prime Bar, a manager, and several workers have been added to Reynolds’ lawsuit for having played a role in the alleged conspiracy.

When interviewed by IAB, the bar manager claimed not to know Shaw or anything about the crash “despite [Shaw’s] cellphone records indicating she was the first called immediately after the motor vehicle accident,” the lawsuit reads.

Attempts by the Daily News to reach the bar’s owner were unsuccessful and the manager no longer works there, one employee said.

The police department’s Collision Investigation Squad also retrieved data from Shaw’s car which showed that he was traveling at 85 mph before he smashed into Reynolds’ auto, the lawsuit claims.

The officers who responded to the scene never turned on their body worn cameras, in violation of department policy, according to documents Sanders received from the NYPD Legal Bureau.

The IAB recommended that the officers receive departmental charges for “impeding an active NYPD Highway Collision Investigation Squad investigation,” according to the suit. It is unclear from the suit if such charges were ever filed.

Shaw, a 22-year NYPD veteran assigned to the Counterterrorism Bureau’s Critical Response Command at the time of the crash, retired from the NYPD in 2020. Attempts to reach him for comment last week were unsuccessful.

Both the NYPD and the city Law Department declined to comment on the new evidence, citing the ongoing litigation.