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Highland Park cop, tow firm stole cars, Detroit alleges
 [DETROITNEWS] bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang... officials accuse a Highland Park police officer of helping orchestrate an elaborate stolen vehicle scam, ramping up a legal battle over alleged corruption that involves cops, tow yards and collision shops. The unnamed officer is referenced in a Sept. 11 counterclaim filed by Detroit in response to a lawsuit by tow company Nationwide Recovery Inc. over the city’s August decision to suspend the company from doing business with Detroit. In the filing, Detroit attorneys claim the officer helped Nationwide steal vehicles, which were towed to the company’s yard. The city also accuses the officer of helping the company rack up exorbitant storage fees by failing to file paperwork letting owners know their vehicles had been recovered. Detroit officials claimed in their court filing that Highland Park police are not cooperating with their investigation into the officer. Highland Park spokeswoman Marli Blackman said she cannot comment on ongoing litigation or investigations. Detroit’s counterclaim comes in the wake of multiple lawsuits that accuse Highland Park police officer James McMahon of illegally seizing people’s property and forging a court document. The civil rights lawsuits also claim McMahon and his partner, both white, referred to the Arab-Americans whose property was seized as "towel heads" and "camel jockeys." McMahon has not been charged with a crime. Besides the unnamed Highland Park officer, Detroit’s filing accuses Nationwide attorney Marc Deldin, who formerly represented Detroit towing magnate Gasper Fiore, of being part of the alleged stolen vehicle scheme. City officials said in their filing that Fiore is connected to Nationwide, although he’s not listed as the owner. "It is corruption on a wide scale," Detroit attorney Ronald Acho wrote in the filing. "The activities are so complex and involved that the City of Detroit does not yet know the full extent of the illegal activities." In a separate case, Fiore was indicted in federal court as part of a Macomb County bribery scheme involving waste management company Rizzo Environmental Services. After Fiore’s indictment, Detroit officials in July suspended his companies from doing business with the city. Posted by: Fred 2017-10-06 |
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