A A

A Halifax Regional Police officer’s career has come crashing down after he stole cash from a taxi driver during a traffic stop this summer.

Anthony George Sparks, 45, of Cole Harbour pleaded guilty recently in Dartmouth provincial court to a charge of theft under $5,000.

Sparks will be sentenced in January after the court receives a presentence report.

The constable resigned from the police force before entering the guilty plea Oct. 29. He was on the force for 13 years.

The facts have not been read into the record yet, but The Chronicle Herald has learned details about the brazen theft from sources.

Sparks was on duty in Dartmouth early in the morning of Aug. 12 when he stopped a taxi driver for a traffic violation.

The cabbie, Houssen Milad, left the vehicle during the stop to do his morning prayers.

After returning to his cab, Milad realized $425 had been taken from a pouch. The theft was captured on a video camera in the vehicle.

The driver contacted regional police, who referred the matter to the Serious Incident Response Team, an independent agency that investigates police officers in Nova Scotia.

SIRT’s civilian director, retired judge Felix Cacchione, swore the charge against Sparks on Aug. 22.

The Crown proceeded by indictment on the charge and is expected to seek jail time at sentencing.

Const. John MacLeod, spokesman for the regional police, confirmed Tuesday that Sparks is no longer employed with the force.

“Beyond that, we are not able to comment,” MacLeod said.

Sparks was charged with assault and assigned to administrative duties after a domestic dispute with a woman at a home in Cole Harbour in June 2010. The charge was dismissed after Sparks signed a peace bond in June 2012.

Milad, 47, is familiar with the courts as well. He was acquitted in September 2017 on a charge of sexually assaulting a female passenger.

The Crown alleged at trial in Halifax provincial court that Milad kissed a woman on the top of her head while driving her home to Armdale in June 2016 and groped her bottom before she exited the vehicle.

Milad denied through an Arabic interpreter that the woman was ever in his car.

In finding Milad not guilty, Judge Gregory Lenehan said the Crown failed to prove the identity of the woman’s assailant.

Milad, who is married with three sons, broke down in tears after the judge told him he was free to leave.

Milad was also supposed to stand trial in August 2017 on an allegation of sexual assault from July 2016 involving another woman, but that charge was dismissed after the Crown offered no evidence. A prosecutor said the complainant had moved to England and did not wish to return to Halifax to testify.