Toronto cop pleads guilty to discreditable conduct at police hearing for eating pot edible on shift
CBC
A Toronto police officer pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of discreditable conduct at a police act hearing for eating a cannabis-infused chocolate bar that her partner had stolen during an illegal pot shop raid back in 2018.
Const. Jamie Young and her partner, Const. Vittorio Dominelli, participated in a raid on an east end dispensary on Jan. 27, 2018, according to an agreed statement of facts read out by Alex Ciobatoru, the prosecutor at Monday's hearing. That's where Dominelli stole three chocolate bar edibles and later ate one bar with Young while on shift, according to the statement of facts.
Young had originally faced criminal charges related to obstruction of justice and breach of trust. The charges were since withdrawn by the Crown.
Young pleaded guilty at the tribunal and read out a letter of apology that said she "foolishly" chose to eat the chocolate without knowing that it had been stolen.
"This was a huge mistake. In doing so, I caused great embarrassment and injury to the reputation of the service and my fellow officers, and for that I am deeply sorry," she said.
"I have had the time and opportunity to learn from this mistake and I look forward to the opportunity to again serve the public and be a productive member of the service."
Ciobatoru and Young's defence counsel, Gary Clewley, put forward a joint disposition proposing that Young receive an 18-month demotion to fourth-class constable followed by a 12-month demotion to third-class constable.
Once reinstated, Young would be required to attend Toronto Police Service college for any retraining that the service deems appropriate.
The tribunal has not yet officially ruled on that joint proposal.
Young and Dominelli carried out a search warrant at Community Cannabis Clinic, a marijuana dispensary in the city's west end, in the early evening of Jan. 27, 2018.
Dominelli stole three chocolate bar edibles, and the pair later went to a restaurant where they ate one of the bars, according to the agreed statement of facts.
Young felt pressured by Dominelli to eat the chocolate because he was her senior officer, according to the statement of facts read out by Ciobatoru.
Young later called 911 when Dominelli began to feel ill from the chocolate and he was taken to a hospital in the early hours of Jan. 28. One of the officers who came to help slipped and fell on the ice, and later suffered a concussion, Ciobatoru said.
Dominelli previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges of attempting to obstruct justice and resigned from the force in 2018.
It's small things, like a cigarette or a pair of clean socks, Rachel Montour says, that can go a long way to make you feel more human when you’re out on the street.
Several dozen members of Windsor's Chaldean community and its supporters celebrated in the cold at the corner of Marentette Avenue and Wyandotte Street East Friday, as city officials gave a secondary name to the section of Marentette between Wyandotte and Tuscarora Street: Chaldean Way.
Allison Hill says she tries to make people’s experience at the Thunder Bay Food Bank “as pleasant as possible.”
Two years after a man went missing in Scarborough, Toronto police are renewing the investigation in hopes that the public will bring forward more information.
A musical instrument created in Guelph, Ont., has been thrust onto the international stage — or rather, screen.
More than 1,000 Maritime Electric customers are without power after high winds blew across the Island Friday night into Saturday.
The Supreme Court of Canada is deliberating a case that could shape the way sentences are handed down in cases where both the offender and victim are Indigenous, which some Nunavut lawyers say could have ramifications for the Inuit-majority territory.
A man barricaded in a former church in Welland, Ont., was taken into custody early Saturday, nearly 24 hours into a standoff that began over a fence dispute.
Peel police are investigating after a Friday night shooting in Mississauga left one person dead, police said.
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.