The force announced the latest charges late Thursday, hours after a former OPP inspector pleaded guilty to breach of trust for his own role in a scheme that gave officers preferential treatment at a certain towing company. Sergeant Terrence Reefer, 59, and Constable Roberto Visconti, both with the Mississauga detachment of the OPP, were arrested on Nov. 7 and charged with breach of trust. Const. Visconti, 36, is additionally charged with obstructing a peace officer. Both have been suspended with pay since January 2021 – when the initial arrests were made as part of the force’s internal investigation. Two tow truck drivers – Douglas Polus, 49, of Vaughan, and Janan Dinkha, 44, of Mississauga – were also charged with aiding and abetting breach of trust. The OPP did not provide details on the charges against them or which companies they are associated with. A Globe and Mail investigation in February 2020 revealed that more than 50 trucks had been burned and at least four men with ties to the industry had been killed as tow truck drivers competed for ground in the lucrative industry. Investigations by Ottawa and Toronto police and the OPP have led to allegations that officers were giving preferential treatment to some tow truck drivers — in some cases for personal gain. On Thursday, retired OPP Inspector Steven Grosjean pleaded guilty to breach of trust. According to the agreed statement of facts, Mr Grosjean, who was the commander of the Mississauga detachment of the highway safety department, had befriended a tow truck driver and was alerting him to vehicles “that appeared to require towing or to inform him when a particular officer was performing enforcement work, as well as the officer’s location on the highway.” There was no evidence that the tow truck driver – Sutheshkumar Sithambarpillay (aka Steve Pillay) of Steve’s Towing, one of the featured operators on the Discovery Canada reality show Heavy Rescue: 401 – actually towed any vehicles as a result of Mr Grosjean’s tips, but the tips gave him a potentially lucrative advantage. Another OPP officer, Constable Bindo Showan, pleaded guilty to breach of trust in June. He was also in regular contact with Mr Sithambarpillay, according to the agreed statement of facts. Analysis of Const. Showan’s enforcement background found that after he joined the force’s Highway 407 Detachment in 2016, the majority of his stunt tows were conducted by either Steve’s Towing or CCC Towing, a sister company also owned by Mr. Sithambarpillay. “This resulted in at least $500,000 in tow to Mr. Pillai.” Mr. Sithambarpillay is charged with aiding and abetting breach of trust and secret procurement. Two other OPP officers – Constables Mohammed (Ali) Hussain and Simon Bridle – are charged with secret procurement and breach of trust. Const. Bridle is additionally charged with obtaining sexual services for a fee. The charges against these three have not been proven in court. Similar internal investigations into towing-related corruption have been conducted by at least two other police agencies in Ontario. In Ottawa, three constables were charged in April 2020, but the case collapsed this March after charges were dropped. Toronto police constable Ronald Joseph – who ran a car rental agency and towing business on the side – is facing a string of charges, accused of taking payments and kickbacks and also providing police radios to tow truck drivers to help them get quick alerts of crash scenes . The allegations have not been proven in court. Two other Toronto officers pleaded guilty to misconduct under the Police Services Act for making fraudulent insurance claims (one of them, according to the agreed facts in their plea, at the behest of Const. Joseph). They were not criminally charged. Project Platinum, a large-scale investigation led by York Regional Police, led to charges against more than 30 people, including several tow truck drivers, in May 2020. But the case collapsed after key charges against a group of people – including of an operator accused of being the leader of a criminal organization – remained in June.
