A firefighter who failed a drug test and was barred from driving official vehicles took a spin in an FDNY van anyway and got into a serious crash — and is now seeking a tax-free disability pension, The Post has learned.
Kevin Simpkins was cruising through Brooklyn last Nov. 1 when he was T-boned by a just blocks from the FDNY headquarters, where he was assigned to the Photo Unit, sources said.
Simpkins, 46, returned to work for about a week, but then went out on medical leave, claiming he had suffered debilitating neck and shoulder injuries, sources said.
“They’re trying to keep this hush-hush, because he wasn’t supposed to be driving in the first place,” one FDNY source said.
Simpkins, a 10-year veteran, is now angling for a disability pension that would pay him three-quarters of his salary tax-free, sources said.
He’s been on modified duty since 2012, following a 30-day suspension without pay because he tested positive for marijuana.
“A lot of guys are up in arms that he went from the possibility of getting fired to maybe leaving on three-quarters disability,” an FDNY official said.
A neighbor in Springfield Gardens, Queens, said Simpkins was spotted last week with his arm in a sling.
“He was walking kind of slowly, but he always walks slowly,” the neighbor said. “He’s a laid-back kind of guy.”
The neighbor also said Simpkins questioned him about his own job during a conversation this past summer.
“I don’t know if he was crazy about being in the Fire Department,” the neighbor added. “He was looking to do other things, to make some more money. He was looking to see what he could do for the future.”
Simpkins wasn’t wearing the sling Thursday when he refused to answer questions about the crash, his injuries and his potential disability claim.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss all that with you,” he said.
“This is an invasion of my privacy.”
Simpkins, who is black, is among the named plaintiffs suing the FDNY for allegedly intentionally discriminating against minority applicants.
A Brooklyn federal judge ruled against the FDNY, but an appeals court booted him from the case, which is set for a nonjury trial before another judge in March.
Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton