COP BUSTED IN STING

T.O. Officer Bloodied For Court Date

A Toronto cop accused of being in an armed robbery ring appeared in court
yesterday with his head caked in dry blood.

Det.-Const. Darin Cooper, 30, was arrested Thursday by cops from Toronto
and York Region, along with six other alleged members of the robbery gang.
After his court appearance Cooper was immediately taken away for medical
attention.

"The injuries speak for themselves," his lawyer Michael Clarke said. "The
guy comes into court and he's a bloody mess - I don't know what happened."

In six search warrants, cops 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. At least one set of body armour and one of the
badges were also police issue.

Although the police released few details of the alleged incidents, sources
said the gang pinpointed planned drug deals - using police information - in
Toronto and York Region. Members of the gang allegedly showed up - at least
once in a hotel room - dressed as cops and then robbed both sides,
according to sources.

Cooper faces breach of trust charges for allegedly committing a robbery
while representing himself as a cop, court documents show. The 10-year
veteran is suspended with pay from 55 Division's Criminal Investigation
Bureau. The allegations are so serious the union may not represent Cooper
after examining all the evidence, a union source said.

"You can look at it as a very negative thing, which it is," Toronto Police
Chief Julian Fantino said. "But it also highlights how ... determined we
are that the integrity of law enforcement and that very sacred public trust
is not violated."

Two other accused have been charged with impersonating police, court
documents show.

It's not the first run-in with cops for one of the accused. Kristofer
Della-Pia, 22, was given a nine-month dangerous-driving sentence and
lifetime firearms ban after a botched 1997 takedown near a North York strip
club left two Toronto cops injured - one from a fellow officer's stray bullet.

One of Della-Pia's cohorts in that strip club shooting is listed as an
assault victim in the court documents outlining the charges against the gang.

Project Captain, as cops dubbed the joint investigation into the gang,
started in January when it was first learned one of their own might be
involved. The first charges date back to last Dec. 27 when a man was
allegedly confined and then robbed by members of the gang, court documents
show.

"(That) was the onset of the investigation," York Region Det. Randy Horne
said. "It was the specific purpose - to investigate those suspicions."

No other police officers are involved, said Det.-Sgt. Bill Sornberger of
Toronto's holdup squad.

Court documents show the gang's alleged criminal activity began to escalate
in February when the accused allegedly started collecting and selling the
drug Ecstasy.

"Any robbery where firearms are involved has the potential to be violent
and certainly the threat is there," Horne said.

The group appeared together in court yesterday and along with Cooper, two
other accused had facial scrapes and bruises and had to seek medical
attention after the hearing.

Besides Cooper and Della-Pia, 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.

All will be back in court on Monday, except for Manchev and Wassilyn, who
were remanded until Thursday.