Deputy Detroit police chief resigns; tied to probe of indicted towing titan Gasper Fiore

Tresa Baldas | Detroit Free Press

A deputy police chief has resigned after top brass at the Detroit Police Department learned she was under investigation by the FBI for her alleged ties to indicted towing titan Gasper Fiore, according to sources familiar with the probe.

Celia Washington, who served as the legal adviser to the police department, resigned June 8, one week after Fiore was indicted on bribery charges for allegedly paying cash bribes to win a towing contract in Clinton Township. Fiore's company, Boulevard & Trumbull, also had a contract with Detroit police, though it was suspended last week amid the probe.

According to sources familiar with the investigation, Washington — as DPD's legal adviser — oversaw Fiores' and others' towing rotations with the Detroit police. Last year, she recommended that DPD keep its towing rotation the same, which essentially saved Fiore a lot of business, the sources said.

The department's towing rotation gets reviewed every five years. In 2016, all of the towing companies had to reapply. Some got removed from the rotation; Fiore did not, the sources said.

More on Freep.com:

Indicted towing titan Gasper Fiore loses contracts with MSP & Wayne County

Feds: Garbage king Chuck Rizzo and towing titan Gasper Fiore got greedy

Washington did not return calls from the Free Press seeking comment.

Her attorney Vincent Toussaint issued this statement on her behalf:

"She had no power to change anything with regard to police authorized towing. It was the responsibility of the board of police commissioners and DPD towing unit. Everything is supported by documents. Nothing changed with the rotation."

According to sources familiar with the case, Washington resigned after voluntarily going to the FBI with information about the towing probe. It is not known what she told the FBI.

Michael Woody, director of media relations for Detroit police, would not comment on specifics of the probe, stating only: "I can confirm that she did resign ... She offered no reason and we cannot comment because, obviously, this is not involving an investigation involving us."

While Woody could not comment on specifics of the federal probe, he said that the police department is "absolutely" cooperating.

Boulevard & Trumbull made its money in Detroit off vehicle owners — not the City of Detroit. For example, if the company towed a vehicle in Detroit, the vehicle owner would have to pay Boulevard & Trumbull $125 to get the vehicle back, plus $15-a-day storage fee, plus a $75 administrative fee that went back to the Detroit police.

Since getting indicted, Fiore has lost three contracts amid the growing federal corruption probe. The Detroit police, the Michigan State Police and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office have all suspended their agreements with Boulevard & Trumbull, which bills itself as "Detroit's premiere towing company" and has been in business for 30 years.

Fiore, 56, of Grosse Pointe Shores, was indicted May 31 on bribery charges for allegedly paying $7,000 in cash bribes to Clinton Township Trustee Dean Reynolds for help in securing a towing contract. Fiore was arraigned June 13. Two days later, the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners voted to suspend Boulevard & Trumbull's towing permit.

That same day, the Michigan State Police also terminated its agreement with Boulevard & Trumbull, though it didn't alert the company until Sunday.

"We suspended our agreement with them until the process is completed. We don’t know what happened," State Police Lt. Michael Shaw told the Free Press on Monday. "The way it looks — you get indicted by a grand jury — we want to make sure everything is OK and on the up and up ... We work for the taxpayers, so we want to make sure that's all set."

Shaw stressed: "Let's remember, everyone is innocent until proven guilty."

According to Shaw, Boulevard & Trumbull had an agreement with MSP that allowed it to tow vehicles that were involved in traffic crashes, arrests or other police-related incidents. The MSP set the fee for how much Boulevard & Trumbull could charge, he said, noting the state police have about 15 other towing agreements across metro Detroit. Other companies will pick up Boulevard & Trumbull's load.

The Wayne County Sheriff's Office would only say: "The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office has suspended use of B & T Towing." Attorneys for Fiore and his company were not available for comment. The Wayne County Sheriff's Office was not readily available for comment. Neither were attorneys for Fiore nor his company.

Boulevard & Trumbull also has contracts with the Michigan Department of Transportation and the federal government. Fiore has built a fortune from his towing, real estate and cement businesses.

According to court documents, Fiore landed on the FBI's radar with the help of another millionaire businessman who has also been charged: Trash hauler Chuck Rizzo Jr., whose garbage company Rizzo Environmental Services dissolved last year amid the corruption probe.

According to court documents, it was Rizzo who allegedly handed off Fiore's bribes for him. Specifically, authorities allege, Fiore last year gave $4,000 in cash to Rizzo, who then gave it to Reynolds. Two months later, Fiore gave Rizzo another $3,000 in cash to give to Reynolds, but an undercover agent delivered Reynolds the money instead.

Reynolds also has been charged.

To date, 12 people have been charged in the Macomb County corruption investigation, including Rizzo, 46, of Bloomfield Hills, who is charged with five counts of bribery and three counts of conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with garbage contracts in Clinton, Macomb and Chesterfield townships. He is also charged with 12 counts of mail and wire fraud.

Fiore is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, mail and wire fraud. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @Tbaldas.