We are a Law Firm (Lawyer’s Office – not a Paralegal Company) and we defend people who have been charged with Driving Offences. We offer the services of in-house experienced Trial Lawyers for Criminal Charges like DUI (Impaired/Over 80/ Refuse) and Dangerous Driving + Serious HTA Offences like Careless Driving, Stunt Racing and Fail To Remain. We also offer Paralegal services at fixed fees which are competitive with any Paralegal Company in the industry. Our advantage in relation to Lawyer Services is that at our Firm, our Lawyers exclusively defend driving offences. Our advantage in relation to Paralegal Services is that at our Firm, Paralegal cases are supervised by experienced Criminal Defence Trial Lawyers and this added service is provided at no extra charge. We defend Careless Driving charges anywhere in Ontario. We defend Criminal Driving charges like Impaired Driving & Dangerous driving anywhere in the Regions of Toronto, Peel, Halton, York & Waterloo-Wellington. We also defend general Traffic Tickets in the following Courts (only): Oakville, Milton, Burlington, and Mississauga.

A Vaughan, Ont., teenager convicted of careless driving after boasting online about his speeding exploits has become the latest cautionary tale for social media users.

Vladimir Rigenco, 19, found himself the target of a police probe several months ago, when a U.S. citizen called in a tip stemming from Mr. Rigenco’s post on an Internet forum for BMW fans. In it, the young man boasted about driving 100 kilometres per hour above the posted speed limit on Apple Blossom Drive, a residential road in Vaughan.

Now, Mr. Rigenco has been convicted, sentenced last week to a six-month driving prohibition and 12 months of probation. He must also complete a remedial driving program and pay a $1,000 fine.

Alan Ackerman, a expert in privacy and social media with the University of Toronto, said the young man’s “exhibitionistic comment” illustrates a fundamental knowledge gap about what is public and what is private.

“It looks like he didn’t really anticipate what that would set off,” Mr. Ackerman said.

York Regional Police Constable Serguei Barmakov, the arresting officer in Mr. Rigenco’s case, said it all began with a tip from an American citizen, which prompted police to visit the 5 Series Forums, an online discussion tool for BMW enthusiasts.

“As a result of that, we observed this character boasting his dangerous driving behaviour,” Const. Barmakov said. “A full-scale investigation was launched to [determine] whether there was any substance to the words.”

Mr. Rigenco’s posting indicated he was travelling 140 km/hr in a 40 km/hr zone on March 15, Mr. Barmakov said. Armed with those details — and with photos of the suspect and his vehicle taken from the forum — police canvassed the relevant area in Vaughan for witnesses, and found several.

“It appears that this was a repeated behaviour,” Const. Barmakov said, though the police probe only focused on the one incident.

Police charged Mr. Rigenco in April with dangerous driving, a criminal offence, but charges were later downgraded to careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act in light of the 19-year-old’s guilty plea.

Const. Barmakov said this is the first time he has launched an investigation because of an online posting, calling it evidence of a new era.

Toronto-based traffic lawyer Volga Pankou noted that such a posting, on its own, would likely not be sufficient evidence in court to prove careless driving.

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A judge has found that Peel police officers conducted an unlawful strip search and then tried to cover it up, calling their testimony “evasive” and…”Mr. McPhail’s Lawyer, Ian Collins of the Burrows Firm had this to say…”

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A judge has found that Peel police officers conducted an unlawful strip search and then tried to cover it up, calling their testimony “evasive” and “troubling.”

The officers’ conduct prompted Justice June Maresca to throw out breathalyzer evidence in an impaired driving case earlier this month, citing a breach of Charter rights. The defendant, David McPhail, was acquitted as a result.

McPhail, 25, was arrested and charged with driving while impaired. He was brought to a Mississauga police station just before 5 a.m. on Sept. 21, 2008 and was made to strip completely naked. Nothing was found in the search.

The Ontario Court judge wrote that three officers knew the strip search took place. Two were in the room when it happened but took no notes. One initially testified it never happened.

“What can only be viewed as the attempted coverup of the strip search makes this conduct especially egregious,” Maresca wrote, adding the search was intended to “put (McPhail) in his place.”

A spokesman for the Peel police service said it will “look into” the judge’s findings.

“They’re allegations and we need to look into it,” said spokesman Sgt. Zahir Shah, adding that he is “not familiar with the nuances of the case.”

Strip searches are “inherently humiliating and degrading,” according to the Supreme Court, which has set out strict guidelines around them. Officers must have reasonable grounds to suspect the prisoner is concealing weapons or evidence; must also seek authorization from a supervisor; and keep proper records of the search.

In McPhail’s case, no records were kept and no approval was sought from a staff sergeant. In testimony that Maresca called “troubling,” one officer said McPhail was strip searched because a cellphone was found hidden in his shoe.

“(The officer) gave what can only be described as fanciful evidence of a cellphone he read about in a police bulletin that was capable of firing bullets,” she wrote.

Though one officer initially testified that McPhail was “compliant,” he later recanted and joined fellow officers in describing the young man as “cocky,” “arrogant” and “belligerent.”

“This evidence leaves the strong impression that the strip search was conducted in order to humiliate or intimidate,” McPhail, Maresca wrote.

McPhail’s lawyer, Ian Collins, said there should be a full, independent investigation into the officers’ actions. The crown attorney should also have reported what was revealed during the trial to the Peel police service, Collins said.

McPhail’s case comes to light one week after the Toronto Star reported that a paralegal is suing four Toronto police officers, the police services board and the attorney general of Canada, alleging he was strip searched and left naked in a cell for 48 minutes in the days leading up to the G20.

When are strip searches allowed?

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This lax attitude causes officers to believe they can get away with abusing the law, said Ian Collins, Mr. McPhail’s lawyer.

“The case merits a full investigation from authorities independent of the Peel Regional Police,” said Mr. Collins, of Burrows Firm Traffic Lawyers Professional Corporation. “These police lost the conviction they sought, but there have been no other consequences. Without accountability for police misconduct, there is impunity.”

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For the second time in less than a month, a judge has set free someone charged by Peel Regional Police, and ruled that officers lied and intimidated suspects.

The double blow from the judiciary has done little to shake the police service that patrols the fast-growing cities of Brampton and Mississauga to the west of Toronto: It has no plans to investigate or discipline the rogue officers.

* Judge finds that Peel police officers falsified evidence
* Peel police officers fabricated evidence in prostitution case: judge
* Peel officer’s drug conviction leads to perjury charge against superior

Defence lawyers who regularly try cases in the area call it the latest example of a troubling and cozy relationship between the police service and the local prosecutor’s office, which has yet to wipe away the decades-old stain of a high-profile wrongful conviction.

With 1,855 officers, the Peel force ranks behind only those of Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. It watches over a sprawling melting pot of new immigrants.

“Peel is a petri dish of massive growth and bad planning,” said defence counsel Robert Rotenberg. “They are playing catch up, going from being a small town to being a big city.”

In the latest ruling, a judge found that Peel Regional police officers stripped a suspect naked to show him who was boss, and provided false testimony to conceal their misconduct.

Earlier this month, a judge found that Peel officers had misled the courts into believing that a suspected pimp, Courtney Salmon, was caught with fake documentation to identify a 17-year-old stripper as over 18.

Peel has a reputation for such hard-line law enforcement. But many officers who are criticized by judges avoid criminal charges or internal discipline because the force tends not to review their conduct unless the local Crown office requests it, which it does not always do.

“While there is no formal process, where there are issues relating to a witness officer’s testimony, the Crown may bring it to the attention of police,” said Brendan Crawley, a spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney-General. “It is done on a case by case basis, and we do not track this.”

Attempts to contact almost a dozen senior police and police services board officials in recent days were not successful.

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