LAWYER: ARRESTED COP WAS BEATEN

A Toronto cop facing 17 charges in connection to a drug-related crime spree
was severely beaten by arresting officers and not provided the medical
attention a justice of the peace ordered, his lawyer alleged in court
yesterday.

Before a show-cause hearing, Eddie Greenspan -- Det.-Const. Darin Cooper's
lawyer -- said the 10-year police veteran was "placed in the hole" instead
of being treated for a swollen wrist and facial cuts which left his head
smeared in blood last Friday, about 12 hours after his arrest.

"The allegations are extreme in the way this man was arrested by his fellow
officers," Greenspan said in court. "There is an allegation of serious
punching and kicking upon arrest ... and that he was severely beaten by the
arresting officers." Cooper, 30, was arrested along with six other alleged
members of a robbery gang last Thursday by cops from Toronto and York, who
seized 25 handguns -- one of them police issue -- body armour, police ID
badges, 11 kilos of marijuana, $130,000 in cash and six expensive vehicles.

Greenspan said the justice of the peace ordered immediate medical attention
for Cooper in court on Friday but instead the cop was put into solitary
confinement. "He was not seen until yesterday for one minute by a doctor and
two minutes by a nurse," said Greenspan.

Doctors will now do a complete examination of Cooper, whose arrest followed
a 10-week sting operation by Toronto and York cops.

The evidence outlined in a bail hearing that continues today left Cooper's
wife, Samantha Gleaves, in tears. Cooper mouthed "You all right?" to her and
she shook and then bowed her head.

The allegations stated in court can't be published but court documents
obtained by The Toronto Sun show Cooper is alleged to be involved with a
robbery ring trying to import and traffic large quantities of the drug
Ecstasy.

Police were alerted to the alleged crime spree after last Dec. 27, according
to the documents, when a man was allegedly confined and then robbed by
members of the gang.

Cooper faces breach of trust charges for allegedly using police information
and cop-issue guns, badges and armour in a series of home and hotel-room
invasions in which drug dealers and buyers were robbed, the court documents
show. He has been suspended with pay from 55 Division's Criminal
Investigation Bureau.

Kristofer Della-Pia, 22; Bobby Manchev, 31; Elie Salama, 24; Peter Maroulis,
29; Nick Koulias, 29, and Mike Wassilyn Jr., 27, all face charges which
include armed robbery, conspiracy, impersonation, breach of trust,
possession of controlled substances, restricted weapons and proceeds of
crime.