News Flash
Bribery Investigation at Detroit’s City Hall
The FBI raided the homes of several Detroit City Council members, including their offices in Detroit City Hall, on August 25, over a public corruption investigation focused on Detroit towing operations and bribery allegations. The City Council members being investigated are Janeé Ayers and Scott Benson, in addition to their chiefs of staff Ricardo Silva and Carol Bank. The investigation represents the latest development in a scandal that has led to charges against Councilman André Spivey. FBI agents have been focused on municipal towing operations and accusations that city officials received bribes, according to two sources. The searches come three weeks after Spivey was arraigned in federal court on one count of conspiracy to commit bribery over claims he accepted more than $35,000 to be “influenced and rewarded” for votes. The investigation also involves towing magnate Gasper Fiore, who was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison in 2018, and Nicholas Primus, as they allegedly tried to funnel money to Councilwoman Ayers for advertising billboards. This transaction was revealed in a 2016 phone exchange involving a sealed FBI wiretap and affidavit by FBI Special Agent Robert Beeckman. Ayers has told The News she doesn’t know Primus, and campaign finance records show no payments from Primus or Fiore to Ayers. Source: detroitnews.com
Tow License of Md. Company Suspended Amid Violations
A resort commission in Ocean City, MD, upheld an action initiated by its Chief of Police to suspend the tow license of 1st Street Towing due to numerous violations. Police Chief Ross Buzzuro, who issued the suspension August 4, said, “There have a number of vio-
lations that we’ve uncovered that resulted in a combination of 49 criminal and civil violations.” The tower’s license was suspended for the rest of the year and came amidst an ongoing investigation arising from a complaint against the company. Violations included incomplete tow slips and affidavits, illegible signatures, unauthorized tow drivers and missing contracts between the tow company and property representatives. Cpl. Ryan Flanagan requested the commission uphold the police chief’s suspension. He noted that he’s had a working relationship with the company for years and was involved in a criminal investigation against 1st Street Towing in 2019. “After several times of me educating, trying to get compliance with these laws at every turn, they let us down,” he said. Abu-Zaid, the lawyer for First Street, requested the commission modify or reverse the chief’s suspension. “He’s looking at a suspension that’s essentially half of a full year of a license,” he said. “So there’s substantial financial hardship associated with that. Not to mention the drivers, who could potentially be out of work.” Abu-Zaid also argued against some of the alleged violations involving incomplete affidavits. “The deficiencies, nine out of 10 times, are rectified by the tow slip that is right on top of it,” he pointed out. Abu-Zaid added the only documentation required for a tow in the town’s ordinance was a tow slip. “There’s no requirement in the code that there should be an affidavit,” he noted. “In fact, the word affidavit doesn’t appear anywhere in the code. I would suggest in the event the city wants to use a form affidavit, mandate a form affidavit and complain about deficiencies in the affidavit, somewhere in the code should say there should be an affidavit.” Tow owner Maath Salem urged
West 106 • October 2021 | Towman.com
the commission to reconsider his suspension. He said his company followed the law. “We love this town and have been in this town for over 30 years,” he said. “We do respect the law.” Source: mdcoastdispatch.com
Tow Company Dropped from Police Rotation
A tower caught on video using foul and racist language during a dispute with a customer in the presence of police led the town of Parsippany, N.J., to terminate the company from its rotation and all municipal operations. “Earlier this morning the township was made aware of an incident occurring at Ajaco Towing Recovery, a business contracted with the Parsippany Police Department,” noted the local administration and police August 17 in a joint statement. “After reviewing the video, [we have] decided to no longer use Ajaco Towing, effective immediately.” The statement was released shortly after a Parsippany man posted a video of the incident on Instagram. In the video, the tow company employee can be heard using explicit language and a racial slur. The man recording the incident said at that point he felt threatened and believed he had been racially profiled. A manager at Ajaco said they were aware of the incident and were, “looking to make it right.”That employee is currently suspended pending further investigation into everything,” said the manager. “We don’t condone any of the actions that the employee is being accused of.” Source: dailyrecord.com
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