Cop At Center Of Dropped Rape Case Accused Before, Records Show

PROSPECT LEFFERTS GARDENS, BROOKLYN — An NYPD officer accused of forcing sex on a handcuffed teenager in his police van faced similar charges in a $20,000 lawsuit claiming he and another cop assaulted and arrested a woman for drugs she did not have, according to court records and reports.

Richard Hall — the ex-cop accused of raping an 18-year-old he and partner Eddie Martins picked up for marijuana possession in September 2017 — also appears in a suit brought by Kathleen Toomer, who says she was falsely arrested in Prospect Lefferts Garden on March 1 of that same year, court records show.

The city made a $20,000 settlement on Toomer's lawsuit in June, according to the Brooklyn Eagle, which was first to report on the case.

Several details in Toomer's lawsuit parallel claims made by Anna Chambers, an alias chosen by the 18-year-old.

Both women reported Hall and a partner picked them up in cars within the span of seven months. Toomer was parked on Ocean and Crooke Avenue on March 1 and Chambers and friends were driving in Coney Island on Sept. 15, court records show.

Both women said they were detained on possession charges, but while Chambers admitted to having drugs, Toomer's suit notes no marijuana was found on her or in her car and the charges against her were dropped.

Both women said they were assaulted during their arrests. While Toomer's suit does not detail the assault, Chambers said she was raped in the back of a police van while driving around Brooklyn.

Hall and Martins were initially charged with rape and kidnapping but the Brooklyn District Attorney's office decided to drop those charges because of issues with Chamber's testimony prosecutors did not detail, but which were reported by the New York Times.

Instead, the two cops will head to Brooklyn Supreme Court in September to face charges of bribe receiving and official misconduct, records show.