Courtesy of Queens DA’s Office
The body cam video footage was the first ever introduced as evidence in a Queens court.
By Michael V. Cusenza
A jury, who for the first time in a Queens court was presented with police body cam video as evidence, has convicted three men of a gunpoint home invasion that terrorized a family of five in Jamaica in June 2015, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Following a three-week trial, Aasim McPhee, 35, of Richmond Hill; Robb Bull, 28, address unknown; and John Hymes, 49, of Manhattan were convicted last Wednesday of first-degree burglary, first- and second-degree robbery, first-degree attempted robbery, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child. Sentencing has been set for July 19, at which time Bull and Hymes each face up to 25 years to life in prison. McPhee is facing up to 25 years in prison.
According to trial records, around 12:30 a.m. on June 4, 2015, one of the occupants of a home on 105th Avenue heard loud banging on the front door. He called 911, but before he could relay any information Hymes walked into the man’s ground-floor bedroom and pointed a gun at him, ordering him to floor. Bull rushed up the stairs to the second floor and yelled out that he was the police and put a gun to a 17-year-old teenage girl’s head. The teen ran to her mother’s room with Bull behind her. He ordered both women to the floor and demanded money.
According to court records, all three defendants ransacked the home with both Bull and McPhee demanding money from the victims. Moments later, responding police entered the house and announced themselves. Police Officer Timothy Brosnan, who was participating in the City Police Department’s pilot body cam program, turned his camera on and captured 28 minutes of video footage. That video footage showed the apprehension of both Bull and McPhee. The two men were trying to escape and had exited the house through a rear second-floor window, but were found on the roof. Upon entering the backyard, Officer Brosnan observed Bull standing on the roof and McPhee crouched down and crawling toward the neighbor’s house. The police officer then observed McPhee making a tossing motion with his hands and heard a crash coming from the neighboring yard. A black firearm was recovered from the landing and a silver revolver was found in the neighboring yard. Hymes was caught hours later exiting the yard of the home.
According to the NYPD, 22,000 body cameras are scheduled for deployment by the end of 2019. The department has developed a policy that requires police officers to engage their BWC during the following circumstances:
• All uses of force
• All arrests and summonses
• All interactions with people suspected of criminality
• All searches of persons and property
• Any officer response to a crime in progress
• All interactions with emotionally disturbed people.
