Chicago cops arrested for shaking down tow truck operators www.privateofficer.com

Chicago cops arrested for shaking down tow truck operators http://www.privateofficer.com

Chicago IL. Jan 29 2009
The FBI arrested another Chicago police officer Wednesday in a towing scam investigation that has already brought charges against three other cops.

According to authorities, then-Officer Jimmie Akins shook down a tow-truck driver for bribes between March 2006 and April 2007.

The driver recorded several conversations with Akins, 41, in which he paid the officer for access to towing jobs in the East Chicago District on the North Side, authorities said. Akins and other officers involved in the scheme alerted bribe-paying tow-truck drivers to traffic accidents and disabled autos, giving them a head-start on towing jobs, while fending off competitors who might show up, according to the FBI.

In audio recordings of their conversations, Akins repeatedly pressured the driver to make payments of $100 per vehicle, and when the driver was late making payments, racking up a $2,300 tab, Akins charged him interest, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
When the investigation caught up to him, Akins resigned from the department in November 2007, FBI officials said.

He is charged with attempted extortion. In the recorded conversations, Akins allegedly boasted that he usually collected bribes on at least 10 cars a week. Akins also described in detail how he arrested another tow-truck driver attempting to take towing jobs that the officer was trying to broker to other drivers, authorities said. “We’re [expletive] him, charging him with all kinds of [expletive],” Akins said on the recording.In another recording, Akins allegedly asked another tow-truck driver who was working undercover with authorities why he wasn’t doing much towing in other police districts. He responded that other drivers had already made bribe arrangements with police in all of the other police districts.

Federal agents have been investigating the scam since 2003 and have made previous arrests in other North Side districts. Officials said Wednesday that the investigation continues.

A source said dozens of officers may have been involved.”I expect all of our police officers to uphold the law,” Police Supt. Jody Weis said Wednesday.

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