Man calling on OPP to fire Toronto officer over alleged sex toy threat
A tow truck driver who claims he was the victim of police abuse, including an alleged threat of sexual assault, is calling on the OPP to fire one of its Toronto officers.
Toronto City News – Posted Feb 13, 2013, 12:01PM EST.
In a statement released by his lawyer, Toronto man Jagdis Tirbany, 45, claims the officer verbally threatened him while “brandishing what appear to be dildos” while he was being fingerprinted at a police station on Keele Street near Wilson Avenue on March 12, 2012. Tirbany released a video of the incident on Wednesday morning.
The video allegedly shows the officer holding the objects and then asking: “which one do you want?” and “…if you ever end up going to jail…in a nice mostly dark place that you have…That’s exactly what Bubba’s gonna do to you. I will personally send a nice text to take care of you in there.”
The province’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), looked into the incident and charged Const. Ludgero Café with uttering a threat to cause bodily harm. Tirbany’s lawyer says that charge was “quietly” dropped by the Crown.
The ministry of the attorney general confirmed to CityNews the charge was dropped on Feb. 1, 2013.
“While the SIU may have had reasonable and probable grounds to lay the charge at the time, the Crown determined there was no reasonable prospect of conviction,” spokesman Brendan Crawley said in an email to CityNews.
Tirbany says the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) had been notified of the case.
Two other officers were present and did nothing, he alleges.
Tirbany had been charged with assault, but the charge was later dropped, the statement said. He and his lawyer, Davin Charney, held a news conference on Wednesday outside the Keele Street OPP station.
He plans to file a lawsuit against the provincial force.
“The lawsuit will allege sexual assault, intimidation, and wrongful interference with Mr. Tirbany’s tow truck business,” Tirbany’s statement said. “The claim is expected to outline a pattern of harassment by OPP officers against Mr. Tirbany including falsely arresting him on one occasion and threatening to arrest him on another occasion.”