She accepted cash bribes while helping an unnamed towing company
owner with permits and circumvent rules that prohibit a towing company
owner from having more than one company in each police district or
towing rotation, according to the indictment.
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“If the allegations are true, it’s extremely troubling,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Wednesday. “It’s certainly a betrayal, not only to the men and women of this police department and my office, but the citizens of this city. That stain is present. This is deeply troubling and a significant betrayal to this organization.”
Craig said the police department worked with the FBI on the investigation, but said he is unable to provide further details.
Washington resigned from the police department in June after police officials learned she was being investigated in connection with an ongoing probe of Fiore, who for years owned several companies that towed vehicles for the city, sources said.
Washington’s lawyer, Vincent Toussaint, declined comment Wednesday. Washington, who faces up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted, has not been arrested or made an initial appearance in court.
Washington for years was the attorney for the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, which made decisions about the city’s tow operations.
The indictment alleges a conspiracy involving Washington that ran from February 2016 until she resigned in June.
She accepted cash bribes while helping an unnamed towing company owner with permits and circumvent rules that prohibit a towing company owner from having more than one company in each police district or towing rotation, according to the indictment.
The towing company owner, who is not identified in the indictment, had controlling interest in multiple towing companies.
Washington would meet the towing mogul in Detroit to collect the cash bribes, the government alleges.
In February 2016, Washington met the towing owner and requested money; that same month, she pocketed at least $3,000 cash from the owner, according to the indictment.
Two months later, in April 2016, she talked with the owner to make sure the businessman would comply with a towing permit application deadline in Detroit, the indictment alleges.
The next month, the owner spoke with an associate and said Washington wanted an email sent to her personal address that specified which towing rotations the owner wanted in Detroit, prosecutors allege.
On June 2, Washington helped issue a towing rotation that violated city rules because the unnamed towing mogul had multiple companies in single police precincts, according to the indictment.
The next day, Washington called the owner and said she ‘did everything she could” to help the owner.
Washington for years was the attorney for the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, which made decisions about the city’s tow operations. Washington did not have a direct hand in selecting which firms were chosen for towing rotations.
In June, her attorney told The News, “Ms. Washington had no power to change anything with regard to police-authorized towing. That was the responsibility of the police commissioners.”
In June, three police sources told The News several officers also were under federal investigation after they were recorded on wiretaps discussing illegal activity connected to Fiore’s towing operations.
Also in June, Fiore was arraigned in federal court on charges he participated in a widespread bribery conspiracy in Macomb County. The Grosse Pointe Shores business mogul is one of 16 people charged in that case.
Fiore was indicted on charges he bribed Clinton Township Trustee Dean Reynolds. The U.S. Department of Justice charged Fiore and Reynolds with multiple counts of bribery-related offenses in connection with a towing contract.
If convicted, Fiore could get 20 years in prison.
Staff writer George Hunter contributed
rsnell@detroitnews.com
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