Helen Freund
A former City of New Orleans tow truck driver is wanted on charges of public bribery after police say he took cash from a woman in exchange for not towing her car.
Reffel Gordon, 51, is wanted on charges of public bribery, filing false public records and malfeasance in office, according to records filed in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.
According to report written by NOPD Sgt. Frank Denton, the Office of the Inspector General began investigating a complaint against Reffel earlier last year.
The record states that on June 12, 2014, the woman, 40, was returning to her rental car, which she had parked near the intersection of Bienville and Burgundy streets.
The woman noticed her car was about to be towed, the report said, and was met by Gordon, who informed her that she had parked illegally.
The woman, distraught, asked Gordon what she should do about her car. According to police, Gordon replied by asking her, “How much money do you have?”
Records show the woman left to get cash from a nearby ATM and told Gordon she had $200. Gordon reportedly told the woman he would tear up her ticket if she gave him the money, which she did, police said.
It was not clear in the documents how the Office of the Inspector General became involved in the investigation, but on June 17, records show the office received surveillance footage taken from nearby showing the interaction and hand off between Gordon and the woman.
Gordon was identified in the video by his superior at the Department of Public Works, Parking Division, and was picked out of an 8-person lineup by the woman, records show.
According to the warrant, Gordon “had violated a number of employee Code of Conduct requirements” including filing false time sheets on June 12.
Investigators with the OIG interviewed Gordon on Aug. 26, where Gordon “admitted all of the actions relative to lifting the vehicle and subsequently lowering it but denied receiving a bribe to do so,” the record states.
Records show a magistrate judge signed a warrant for Gordon’s arrest on Dec. 1, 2014, but as of Thursday (Jan. 8) he remained at large. Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux confirmed in a prepared statement that Gordon has yet to be arrested.
A city spokesperson said Gordon had been terminated from his job in October.
Online records with the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s website show Gordon was arrested on charges of forcible rape and possession of marijuana in 1988. The charges were later refused by prosecutors.
Gordon has no other existing criminal record in Orleans Parish.
Source: nola
