A Toronto police officer was heavily involved in a corrupt operation with a tow truck ring, according to fellow officers. They say the operation includes stolen police radios that allow tow truck drivers to locate accidents faster and avoid police amid the ongoing turf war in the industry.
Following the disappearance of a radio in an Etobicoke division, drivers allegedly began broadcasting the police transmissions on the internet for money.
Supt. Domenic Sinopoli of the Toronto police said they became aware that certain tow truck drivers were accessing the encrypted radio network, in Aug. 2019, reports CP24.
Police stopped and searched the vehicle of a tow truck driver on Highway 400 on May 9 and allegedly found the radio that was stolen from 22 division the previous year, said Sinopoli.
Kevin Lima, a 27-year-old man from Barrie was charged and released at the scene.
The radio was later examined by technicians who concluded that it was authentic, though there was still a radio being used in 22 Division that had the same identification number.
“The radio at 22 division was cloned from the one seized from Kevin Lima,” Sinopoli said.
On May 26, three homes were raided by police in Toronto, Barrie and Brampton and more radios and tools to clone them were found. Police also reportedly located a radio that was missing from the 14 Division.
Another police radio was found on June 9, in a tow truck after police stopped it on Billy Bishop way. Lima was in the truck along with two other men and all three were arrested. Police also seized a 9mm handgun from the vehicle.
Const. Ronald Joseph of the Toronto police was arrested and received charges connected to one of the stolen radios on June 15. Joseph owned two tow trucks as well as a car rental agency. Joseph has now been suspended with pay.
Sinopoli noted that other officers knew of Joseph's rental agency but not the fact that he owned the tow trucks.
Police claim Joseph was getting kickbacks from many tow truck drivers by providing access to the police radios.
Police made seven more arrests and located $35,000 along with six tow trucks in multiple raids in Southern Ontario three days after Joseph was arrested.
“I do agree with you that the (towing) industry is rife with corruption, that doesn’t necessarily mean all tow truck drivers are corrupt,” Sinopoli said. “There are certain individuals taking advantage of the system and opportunities available to them to facilitate their business interests.”
The eleven people charged are facing offences such as participation in a criminal organization.
They are set to make court appearances on September 4 in Old City Hall.
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