GTA tow company owner featured on Heavy Rescue: 401 hit with charges
GTA OPP members allegedly gave preferential treatment to certain towing operators
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The owner of a prominent North York towing company is among those charged in a wide-ranging investigation that also saw the arrest of three OPP officers and the suspension of four others.
Sutheshkumar Sithambarpillay, 52 — also known as Steve Pillai, the owner of Steve’s Towing — was charged with aiding and abetting breach of trust and secret commissions.
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He will appear in Finch Ave. court on April 16.
Both Sithambarpillay and Steve’s Towing are mainstays on the Discovery Channel series Heavy Rescue: 401, highlighting the efforts of first responders clearing crashes along busy portions of southern Ontario highways.
The investigation began nearly two years ago when the OPP Professional Standards Unit became aware of allegations of GTA provincial police members giving preferential treatment to certain towing operators.
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Last week, Const. Mohammed Ali Hussain, 52, of the OPP Toronto detachment, and Const. Simon Bridle, 53, of the 407 Highway Safety Division, were charged with secret commissions and breach of trust.
Bridle also faces charges of obtaining sexual services for consideration.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of 57-year-old Bindo Showan, of the 407 Highway Safety Division. The OPP say he is currently out of the province.
All three members are suspended with pay.
Four more OPP officers, including two members of the Highway Safety Division, have also been suspended — but not yet charged — as part of the investigation.
A number of Toronto Police officers were suspended over the summer as part of internal investigations probing inappropriate relationships with local towing operators.
Those suspensions came after the arrest of Const. Ronald Joseph, 47, accused of being part of a ‘consortium’ of tow truck drivers charged with being in possession of stolen or illegally cloned police two-way radios, and receiving tips from police about collisions ahead of their competition.
The lucrative collision tow industry in the GTA has been an ongoing source of violence over the years, including arson, assaults, shootings and even murder, as bad operators battle each other for turf.
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