West Bloomfield Officer Charged with Misconduct in Ticket-Fixing Incident

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP – A West Bloomfield police officer was arraigned Tuesday on two charges of criminal misconduct in a traffic-ticket fixing incident with a Southfield man.
 
Fifteen-year veteran Jeffrey Pindzia, 38, of Canton, was charged with misconduct in office and conspiracy to commit misconduct relating to alleged offenses which occurred last fall, according to Police Chief Michael Patton.
 
Rudi Gammo, 31, of Southfield, was charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct. Gammo, on probation after being convicted of five felonies and seven misdemeanors since 1998, had bond set at $100,000 cash by 48th District Court Judge Diane D’Agostini and is required to wear a GPS tether as a flight risk. Pindzia’s bond was set at $20,000 with a 10 percent cash surety.

Pindzia was charged with a common law offense and conspiracy to commit a common law offense, Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said, adding that "Gammo is essentially being charged as a go-between or a middle man in ticket-fixing."

“Look at Gammo — whatever happened involves Gammo,” said Mitchell Ribitwer, Pindzia’s attorney. “(Pindzia) is innocent … when it goes through the court system, the truth will come out. Right now, I don’t know all the details.”
 
Pindzia’s preliminary exam is scheduled for April 12. He was relieved of duty Tuesday, according to Patton.
 
Patton made it clear that West Bloomfield Police initiated the criminal investigation, which now is under the jurisdiction of the Oakland County Sheriff's Office. “We sought their help," he said.  "At the same time, we’ll be conducting a review soon for an internal investigation.”
 
Ribitwer said that the alleged offenses involve a township resident who faced two different sets of traffic violations written by two different West Bloomfield police officers. Ribitwer said that Gammo, who knew Pindzia at the time, made a statement to the township resident that “Pindzia would help him” in exchange for monetary gain.
 
“A lot of this is speculative. I’ve known Pindzia for a long time and he’s always been straight,” Ribitwer said.
 
Gammo’s attorney, Farris Haddad, offered no comment.

Patton said it is unclear whether money exchanged hands.

Patton maintained that the charges against Pindzia, who, according to D'Agostini has no prior criminal history, do not detract from the department.
 
“It’s an isolated incident that’s counter to our training and values,” he said. “We are fully committed to providing the highest quality and quantity of services available, which includes policing ourselves when necessary.”