Detroit Police Officers Confess to Car-stripping Scheme

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Four officers from the Detroit Police Department pleaded guilty to extortion charges this week, with another two being indicted, after receiving bribes from body shops looking for stolen and abandoned vehicles obtained by the city. Federal investigators have been looking into the scheme, which involves shops collecting thousands of dollars from insurance companies for unnecessary repairs, for well over a year.

The accused officers are believed to have reported stolen or abandoned vehicles to a single towing company, rather than police dispatch. From there, the towing service would pay them a $50 to $100 “finders fee” before notifying the car’s owner that it had been stolen and sustained unspecified damages. Fortunately, the towing service always knew of a repair shop that would “waive the deductible.”

The cars were then stripped so the claims adjuster could quote the vehicle for thousands of dollars in damages.

Unfortunately, the plot doesn’t seem to have been particularly lucrative for the accused cops. While the amount varies between officers, most are believed to have pocketed between $500 and $6,000 via their arrangement with the towing company. Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor and former federal prosecutor, told The Detroit News, “Even if you multiplied the amount by five, they just sold their careers for less than $30,000.”

“This is a classic case of benign corruption, at least that’s how officers can justify it to themselves,” he said. “They’re not being bribed to look the other way but the officers are putting a little cash in their pockets.”

Detroit police Chief James Craig said two additional officers are under internal investigation and could be fired for their involvement in the alleged extortion scheme, which the chief said was ongoing for as long as 12 years. The six individuals already charged were suspended in the fall of 2016.

Two collision shops in Wayne County are also currently being investigated. Those cases were unsealed after Detroit Deputy Police Chief Celia Washington was caught taking bribes in exchange for helping Grosse Pointe Shores towing mogul Gasper Fiore obtain a larger portion of a Detroit towing industry that totaled more than $2 million a year.

Washington was one of 18 individuals charged in a wide-ranging FBI investigation into municipal corruption. That probe focused on Fiore’s towing empire, Macomb County politicians pocketing bribes in exchange for approving municipal contracts with Rizzo Environmental Services, and the Macomb County Public Works office.

The car stripping scheme is believed to be related to the broader public corruption scandal. While several of the officers who confessed are hoping for plea deals, the extortion charges could still yield them up to 20 years in prison, as well as $250,000 fines.

“The actions of these six officers illustrate a pattern of misconduct and an abuse of authority, which is in contrast to the vast majority of law enforcement professionals at the Detroit Police Department who serve each day with distinction and integrity,” said David Gelios, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit office.

[Image: Sean Davis/ Flickr ( CC BY-ND 2.0)]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Tele Vision Tele Vision on Dec 14, 2017

    When I lived in Calgary, AB., the towing money went to the towing companies and the ticket money went to the City. The towing companies had a scheme, however: they'd tow as many illegaly-parked cars as they could but only deposit them a few blocks away so they could quickly come back for more. Knowing this I once found my '88 Parisienne wagon five blocks away from where I'd parked it the night before and my friend once found his ( also ) Pontiac in the same industrial district. Both undamaged. Years later my then-girlfriend watched her car get towed at noon. I picked her up at 5:30 that afternoon and we drove to the impound lot, only to find that her car wasn't there yet. I raised Hell but there was no record of her car. We went looking for it but couldn't find it. It was there the next afternoon - with a 24-hour 'storage' charge on top of the parking fine and the towing charge. Whatta scam.

  • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on Dec 15, 2017

    So many scandals in the Detroit area, going back to the Coleman Young era, have to do with hauling and towing. During Young's administration it was about contract to haul away sludge from the Detroit water treatment plant. The Fiore scandal in Macomb county is about garbage hauling.

  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
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