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Two Detroit cops and four retired officers have been indicted on charges of extortion and accepting bribes from owners of collision shops in exchange for referring stolen and abandoned vehicles recovered to their shops, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.
Two of the current cops were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury and the four retired ones have pleaded guilty to committing extortion while they worked on the force.
The current officers are Deonne Dotson, 45, and Charles Wills, 52.
Retired officers are James Robertson, 45, Jamil Martin, 46, Martin Tutt, 29, and Anthony Careathers, 52.
"The actions of these six officers illustrate a pattern of misconduct and an abuse of authority, which is in contrast to the vast majority of law enforcement professionals at the Detroit Police Department who serve each day with distinction and integrity," David P. Gelios, head of the Detroit FBI, says in a statement.
Robert Snell and George Hunter of The Detroit News report:
The court filings emerged 14 months after The Detroit News revealed federal investigators were probing an elaborate scheme involving collision shops that stripped stolen vehicles and collected thousands of dollars from insurance companies for unnecessary repairs.
The cases appear to be an offshoot of a broader public corruption scandal that has led to charges against 18 people, including towing titan Gasper Fiore and a former deputy police chief, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
