Toronto police said Thursday they’ve uncovered a video that ratchets up allegations that Mayor Rob Ford was captured on tape smoking from a glass crack pipe.
In May, two Toronto Star reporters said they were offered a chance to buy a video of the mayor smoking crack. They reportedly saw the video, CBS reported.
Mr. Ford, for his part, said he doesn’t smoke crack and that the video is nonexistent.
But the latest news throws a wrench in half of Mr. Ford’s denial — that the video doesn’t exist.
CTV News just reported that police Chief Bill Blair said investigators have digital files that were extracted from a computer hard drive that supposedly contain the video — and that the pictures they’ve viewed are consistent with the “images previously reported in the press.” He also said that forensic specialists had to recover the files because they had been deleted. Chief Blair did not specify what he meant by that statement, nor did he confirm that the images were those of the mayor smoking from a crack pipe.
But Chief Blair did say on CTV News that Mr. Ford is present in at least one of the videos.
SEE ALSO: Toronto mayor denies he smokes crack cocaine
Asked if the images shocked him, Chief Blair said only that he was “disappointed” and that as a result of the police investigation, officials “have this morning taken into custody a Mr. Sandro Lisi and laid a charge of extortion with respect to the evidence that’s been collected,” CTV News reported. Police said in a separate statement that Mr. Lisi “made extortive efforts to retrieve a recording.”
Mr. Lisi is one of the mayor’s friends, and he was arrested on charges related to marijuana trafficking earlier this month, CTV News reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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