Chicago cop accused of shaking down tow operators

[July 24, 2008]  CHICAGO (AP) -- A police officer was arrested Wednesday on federal charges of shaking down tow truck operators for payoffs of up to $400 per vehicle in exchange for steering towing business to them.

Michael Ciancio, 56, was arrested at his home without incident as part of an FBI undercover investigation of allegations that Chicago police have been getting payoffs in exchange for such referrals.

Ciancio was accused in a criminal complaint of getting repairs to his personal car as well as cash in exchange for steering the towing business to companies that paid him.

Ciancio appeared briefly before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason on Wednesday and was released on his own recognizance. Defense attorney James E. Thompson declined to comment on the case.

The FBI, which conducted the investigation with Chicago police, said the 21-year veteran of the force had been relieved of his police powers and is no longer on active patrol.

An FBI affidavit filed with the complaint said Ciancio got payments between $40 and $400 for each vehicle towed. It said the FBI received information as early as five years ago that police were demanding such payments of towing operators, the affidavit said.

It said a recording was made in June 2007 by a tow truck operator cooperating with the FBI as Ciancio chased him away from one towing job he had reserved for a favorite truck operator.

"Drop it, drop it and get out of here, you don't belong here, get out," the affidavit quoted Ciancio as saying. It quoted him as threatening to have the trucker "locked up for soliciting" if he didn't leave.

It also said agents made an audio recording in which Ciancio took a payoff from another cooperating witness and described it as "beautiful."

[Associated Press; By MIKE ROBINSON]

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