On a day like no other in Toronto politics, the taxpayers Mayor Rob Ford says he proudly represents were hit by one bombshell after another.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said publicly the video — the one two Toronto Star reporters saw showing Ford appearing to smoke crack cocaine and making homophobic and racially charged remarks — is real. Detectives obtained it Tuesday after pulling the deleted file from a computer hard drive seized in the Project Traveller guns and drugs raid. One day, it may be presented in court.

The friend the mayor has called a “good guy” and “straight shooter” was charged with extortion over an alleged forceful attempt to retrieve the cellphone that recorded the video. Alexander “Sandro” Lisi appears in court Friday. He spent the night in jail after the arresting detectives interviewed him.

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A nearly 500-page police document, with roughly half of it blacked out, was released revealing Toronto Police targeted Ford right after the Star and the U.S.-based Gawker website published stories on the video in May. Police used a plane, tracking devices, a camera tacked to a telephone pole and countless hours of manpower to follow the mayor as he met Lisi parking lots late at night, in parks and his favourite Tim Hortons stop, an Esso station near his house.

Read the complete police document here

That’s the Esso where Ford, the day after Lisi was arrested, famously vowed, “I don’t throw my friends under the bus.”

A top Toronto judge will rule in the next few weeks on whether the rest of the document will be made public.

The investigation, Blair said Thursday, continues, and evidence is still being gathered.

Lisi proved to be a difficult target to track for police

Blair told a press conference he is upset by what he saw on the video, shown to him by his detectives. “I think as a citizen of Toronto, I’m disappointed. I know this is a traumatic issue for the citizens of this city and for the reputation of this city, and that concerns me.”

Any other politician would have reeled from a day like that. Ford, his office decorated for Halloween, seemed to take it in stride and rejected calls to step down.

“I have no reason to resign,” Ford said. “I’m going to go back and return my phone calls, I’m going to be out doing what the people elected me to do and that’s save taxpayers money and run a great government that we’ve been running for the last three years.” Ford said he could not comment on a matter “before the courts.”

Video: Ford tells media “I have no reason to resign”

Ford took his children out trick-or-treating Thursday night, wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey.

The police information, used to obtain a search warrant, details in meticulous fashion how, for five months, police from a special squad investigated allegations of drug trafficking. Detectives found numerous instances of mysterious packages being passed between the men. There is no evidence police ever conducted a search after a package was seen, and none of the allegations have been tested in court.

The massive amount of information released yesterday does not answer several burning questions. The Star does not know when the video was made or where it was made. The Star has also not been able to identify a man who, in a clear and strong voice, goaded the impaired Ford into making comments that include calling Justin Trudeau, now Liberal Leader, “a fag.” The Star has previously revealed that accused guns and drugs trafficker Mohamed Siad was the man who tried to sell the video, but it is not his voice on the video.

The Star and Gawker published stories about the video late in the day on Thursday, May 16, and that touched off a frantic series of calls, texts and meetings involving Ford, Lisi and others.

The 35-year-old Lisi, the Star has previously reported, lives in his parents’ basement in a nice neighbourhood just east of the Dixon towers. At the time the story broke, he was facing sentencing after being convicted of threatening to kill a woman, and he has previous convictions for drug possession, and for threatening and assaulting other women and men. He’s never worked much. He has told people he deals drugs to many people, including the mayor. His “contact” book was one of the items police were looking for when they executed a recent search warrant.

Just before the video story broke, according to the police document, Ford called Lisi. They spoke for 40 seconds (what they said is not known). Over the next 45 minutes, Lisi repeatedly called and texted a number that was censored in the heavily blacked-out document.

Then Lisi called Fabio Basso, an old Ford friend (they attended school together). Basso and older sister Elena live in the 15 Windsor Rd. bungalow where, sometime previously, Ford had his photo taken with three men connected to the drug trade. Police have called the bungalow a “drug house.”

The search warrant document notes that a notebook that appears to be Ford’s refers to a list of outstanding water and other bills for the home. Detectives say one explanation “could be that the mayor is dealing with house maintenance and bill payment at 15 Windsor Rd.,” the document says.

Lisi kept calling through the night, as Toronto and many parts of the world learned of the growing scandal. He called Basso. He called Ford’s recently hired logistics director Dave Price, Ford’s loyal former football coach. Both Lisi and Price drove to Ford’s home in the morning and ran interference for Ford as media descended on his Edenbridge Dr. home.

Much of this activity police learned of after it happened, not through wiretaps but through “production orders” that authorized detectives to see telephone records.

Ford immediately dismissed the Star story as being untrue. As the storm gathered on Friday, May 17, there was talk among Ford and Price (the Star earlier reported) of where the video could be found.

According to the lengthy police document, by Saturday, May 18, the Toronto police had assigned Det.-Sgt. Gary Giroux, of the homicide squad, to lead what would be an incredibly sensitive investigation: “Investigate the matter brought forth by the Toronto Star and Gawker.com and their allegations against Mayor Rob Ford. Specifically to investigate the existence of a cellular phone containing a video of Ford smoking crack cocaine.” Other top officers, including Det. Joyce Shertzer, joined the probe.

That day, Ford and Lisi made frequent calls to each other, none more than a minute long. Over the next week, Ford and Lisi called each other at least 60 times. In that week, as the Star earlier reported, Lisi made an aggressive attempt to retrieve the video, including paying a visit to Fabio Basso, at 15 Windsor Rd., on May 20.

“Where are the guys who made the video, Fab?” asked Lisi, who showed up there with another man.

The next night, there was a break-in at 15 Windsor. Fabio, his girlfriend and their elderly mother were attacked by a man wielding an extendable police-style baton. No charges have been laid.

Thursday, police would not explain the grounds for charging Lisi with extortion, except to say “the accused made extortive efforts to retrieve a recording.”

Soon after that flurry of activity, a week into the scandal, Ford at last addressed the alleged crack video. “I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine,” he said. “As for a video, I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist.”

According to the police document, what followed was months of surveillance of Ford, Lisi and others. A six-officer detail of police specially trained in surveillance began watching their movements beginning June 16.

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Quite quickly, police from a squad sometimes called a “spin team” realized that Lisi was adept at avoiding detection. To begin with, he had a camera mounted on the roof of his parents’ garage, which police suspected Lisi used to watch, remotely, what was going on outside their home.

On the road, Lisi, driving a black Range Rover, twisted and turned, making it hard for the rotating team of officers to keep him in sight. “Lisi would continuously use side streets, pull to the curb at corners and wait and execute U-turns at apparent random locations.”

The officers used video and still cameras to record what they saw. Entering the frame of the camera more often than not was a black Cadillac Escalade — the signature Rob Ford vehicle.

Police also obtained closed-circuit television footage shot at Ford’s neighbourhood Esso station over the summer. In one instance, on July 11, the cameras caught Ford entering the station and heading straight to the bathroom. Police, who were watching the Esso, then observed Lisi arrive in his black Range Rover. Lisi entered the gas station shop carrying a manila envelope he took from the front of his Range Rover.

Police notes in the file indicate that Lisi appeared to be texting on his phone. Closed-circuit video footage shows Lisi walking around the gas station, purchasing Gatorade and a bag of chips. Ford is still in the washroom. Lisi then exits the gas station. Police outside observed Lisi walk to Ford’s Escalade and place the envelope on the passenger side of Ford’s vehicle.

Back inside the gas station, Ford is seen emerging from the bathroom, picking out a bottle of Gatorade and a pack of gum, and paying for it. Ford then gets into his Escalade and drives away.

In the sky, a Toronto police Cessna followed Ford, Lisi and others from time to time. Police also used what they call a “pole camera” — literally a camera mounted on a pole on Lisi’s street. That camera was busy. For example, on July 23, it captured Ford and Lisi outside the Lisi house. Carol Peck, 75, a neighbour, has said she saw Ford and Lisi together on the street four times a week on a routine basis.

Detectives racked up a great deal of mileage in their surveillance vehicles.

Comparing the Star’s own investigative timeline with the police timeline show points where contact by reporters seems to have preceded Ford-Lisi meetings. For example, the Star published a major story on Aug. 16 detailing Lisi’s role in trying to retrieve the video. On Aug. 14, the Star sent detailed questions to both men (the Star had sent questions earlier as well).

The police surveillance reports show that on Aug. 14, they watched as Ford and Lisi had a “heated” conversation at Centennial Park (where Ford was attending his child’s soccer game).

“The two met for almost an hour, at times the conversations appeared to be somewhat heated (arms flailing, pointing fingers, etc.) Lisi at one point gave mayor Ford his cellular phone to look at; the mayor did so and handed it back to Lisi after a few seconds.” The conversation continued, but was interrupted by Ford answering his phone.

Contact between the men was frequent, both in person and by phone. The police document reveals 349 telephone calls or text messages between Ford and Lisi in one 44-day period beginning in August.

The police document also brings in nearly 70 other people who are somehow involved in the lives of Ford and Lisi.

One of those is Romeo DiBattista, a businessman involved in the recycling industry, who owns an after-hours club (which was gutted after the Star began asking questions) on Bloor St., west of Prince Edward Dr. in Etobicoke, south of where Ford lives. Ford, Lisi and DiBattista know each other and both had spent time at the club, the Star’s ongoing investigation has shown.

The police document reveals a meeting between Lisi and DiBattista, and police describe a “notebook” they have obtained that appears to be Ford’s and includes DiBattista’s telephone number.

Like many people close to Ford and Lisi, DiBattista responded aggressively when a Star reporter found him at his club and began to ask questions, particularly about a night at the club where Ford was present.

“Are you f---ing kidding? I can’t talk to you about that s---,” DiBattista said, when approached in his black Chevrolet Suburban SUV. DiBattista took off, his tires squealing.

There is no indication in the document that police have spoken to DiBattista.

It’s clear that police did talk to many others as part of their investigation, including former Ford press secretary George Christopoulos. In one section of the police document, though it’s unclear who provided the police with this detail, one Nico Fidani was concerned that Lisi was “providing the Mayor with illegal drugs. Fidani thought that Lisi would drive the Mayor around to ‘hot spots’ and facilitate getting drugs for the Mayor. Fidani thought Lisi was addicted to drugs.”

Surveillance teams observed some things they probably would rather have avoided. At one point, on July 28, Ford made an LCBO stop, followed by a McDonald’s stop, and met Lisi behind Ford’s old school, Scarlett Heights Entrepreneurial Academy. They talked for 30 minutes, Ford went to a treed area to urinate, then they both drove off in their separate vehicles. Police searched the area afterward and found two empty vodka bottles: one Russian Prince, the other Iceberg.

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