Baltimore Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Towing Scandal

A 41-year-old Baltimore police officer pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday for his role in a kickback .

According to a news release, David Reeping, 41, of Arbutus, pleaded guilty to extortion under color of official right in connection with a scheme in which the owner of Majestic Auto Repair Shop LLC paid Reeping to arrange for the repair shop, rather than a city-authorized company, to tow vehicles from accident scenes and make repairs.

The Baltimore Police Department requires that when police request vehicle towing services, they use only towing companies that are under contract with the city of Baltimore to provide towing services for the police.

According to Reeping’s plea agreement, sometime in 2009, the officer was introduced to the owner of Majestic and told that he could make extra money by having vehicles towed to the shop, which is not authorized to do business with the city.

The plea agreement continued that the shop owner then instructed Reeping to tell accident victims that it would pay for the deductible to induce them to have the car towed to the shop. Between 2009 and February 2011, when Reeping would encounter an accident, he contacted the owner of Majestic, rather than an authorized tow company with the city, to tow the vehicle.

According to the news release, this included an instance on Dec. 21, 2010, when Reeping called the shop owner, who arranged to tow a car from an accident scene. The next day, the driver of the car called the Central District inquiring about where her car was.

When questioned, Reeping falsely advised his supervisor that the driver directed him to tow the car to the repair shop. Reeping received approximately $1,000 in total from the repair shop owner.

Reeping faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the amount of gain or loss derived from the offense. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake scheduled sentencing for 9 a.m. on Sept.14.