Cops face perjury charges over theft

Four Peel police officers were accused of stealing a statue of Tony Montana

Peel police have charged four officers with perjury after they were accused of stealing a statue of Scarface character Tony Montana from a drug dealer’s storage unit in 2014, and then lying about it twice under oath.

“It is a unique situation, 100 per cent,” Sgt. Joshua Colley, Peel police spokesperson, told the Star of the 13-month criminal investigation. “As far as I can remember, only one officer has ever been charged (with perjury), and no one has been convicted in the 44-year history of Peel Police.”

In May 2017, an Ontario Superior Court Justice described the conduct of Major Drugs and Vice Unit constables Richard Rerrie, Mihai Muresan, Emanuel Pinheiro and Damian Savino as “profoundly and demonstrably inconsistent with what a fair justice system requires.”

“Upon learning about the ruling, I immediately ordered an internal investigation to be conducted by our Professional Standards Bureau into the conduct and actions of the involved officers,” Peel police Chief Jennifer Evans said in a press release.

In June 2014, Peel police witnessed a drug deal involving Lowell Somerville of Brampton. During an investigation into his activity, officers took out a search warrant for a storage locker he owned in downtown Toronto; they told the court, nothing had been taken from the unit once in a preliminary hearing, and again during a cross-examination.

Surveillance footage, however, showed the four officers leaving the storage facility with a large object under a beige sheet.

After Somerville was released from custody, he discovered that some of his possessions were missing, including a onemetre-tall, “one-of-a-kind” hand-painted wood statue of fictional drug dealer Tony Montana, which he stored under beige cloths. He reported the apparent theft to his lawyer, Kim Schofield.

Rerrie told the court, he had taken a “standup heater” from a hallway in the storage facility, which he claimed was in a green or black garbage bag and had a sign taped to it saying it was free. Rerrie testified, he threw the heater out a few days later as it didn’t work properly.

In her judgment, the Ontario Justice noted “the shape of the object that was carried out of the facility by Officer Rerrie appears very similar to the shape of the statue of Tony Montana,” and that a heater “was really not a necessity” as it was June.

Schofield is “surprised and impressed” by the decision to charge the officers with perjury.

“I had assumed nothing would happen.”

The decision to charge the officers came after consultations with the Ministry of Attorney General’s office. Under the Criminal Code of Canada, a person can be charged for perjury if they provide false evidence or lie under oath.

The four officers, who remain suspended, also face one count of theft under $5,000 and one count of obstructing police.

They will appear in court on June 4.