POLICE WILL ATTEMPT TO FIRE OFFICER CHARGED IN ASSAULT ON 18-YEAR-OLD

A veteran Toronto police officer has been charged with assault, just three
months after being charged with possession of cocaine.

The embattled force, already plagued with allegations of corruption, said
in a release yesterday that it will move to fire Constable John Pepper.

The 29-year-old officer was taken into custody at an Etobicoke residence
early yesterday after police were called to help. Police colleagues charged
Constable Pepper with assaulting an 18-year-old.

Further details were not divulged. The earlier drug charge against the
constable was laid on Feb. 20.

He now also is accused of breaching the conditions of his release on that
charge.

The officer worked downtown in 52 Division, the precinct at the centre of
allegations in unrelated reports of a nightclub shakedown scandal.

Last week, criminal charges were laid against several officers, of whom
three are alleged to have taken bribes to help nightclubs avoid
liquor-licence infractions.

In January, a group of former downtown drug investigators were charged with
perjury, theft, and assault after a lengthy investigation led by the RCMP.

The probe that led to those arrests prompted a judge to recommend that
Toronto police officers be screened for illegal drugs, although they are
resisting this measure.

Andrew Clarke of the Toronto Police Association said last night that any
officers who are charged can apply to the association for help with legal
bills, but funding is not automatic; applications are assessed case by case.

Mr. Clarke is acting as president of the association because the elected
president, Rick McIntosh, is accused in connection with the
nightclub-shakedown scandal.

Another member of the executive, Mike McCormack, faces disciplinary charges
after he vouched for a car dealer, now deceased, who had drug problems and
ties to organized crime.

These charges, which are not criminal, could at most result in his firing
or censure.

Mr. McIntosh and Mr. McCormack have stepped down temporarily but are
resisting moves to oust them, leading to a messy fight within the association.

Acting president Mr. Clarke said there have been no changes in the
situation since a two-hour meeting Wednesday night of union stewards and
the executive.

Little is known about the constable accused of assault and cocaine use.

News clippings show that in 1980, Constable Pepper and a partner arrested
the first streaker to make his way onto the ice at Maple Leafs Gardens. The
naked man, who carried a Maple Leafs No. 1 placard and was cheered on by
then-owner Harold Ballard, was charged with indecent exposure.

In 1986, Constable Pepper and his partner were attacked by a screaming mob
on Yonge Street as they tried to break up a fight.

Constable Pepper was about to be beaten with his own nightstick when police
reinforcements arrived.

In the statement released yesterday, police said he was not on active duty
at the time of the arrest.