WILKES-BARRE - Leo A. Glodzik III, the city's towing contractor, was hit with theft charges Friday alleging he pocketed more than $2,000 in cash disguised as police evidence during an FBI sting operation.
Mayor Tom Leighton, who once defended Mr. Glodzik's towing work for the city, announced his plans to terminate Mr. Glodzik's contract and indefinitely suspended him during a press conference held less than an hour after Mr. Glodzik's court hearing.
Mr. Leighton attributed his decision to the criminal charges and the city's own findings that Mr. Glodzik's company, LAG Towing, had violated its contract. However, he refused to elaborate on details of those violations.
Mr. Glodzik, 42, of 83 Foote Ave., Duryea, pleaded not guilty to a felony count of theft by unlawful taking and a misdemeanor count of theft from a motor vehicle.
The criminal charges were a catalyzing development in the controversy surrounding Mr. Glodzik. In January, city council members advised Mr. Leighton to sever ties with LAG Towing, saying they'd seen enough evidence of contractual violations. The controversy grew in February when an FBI agent delivered the city a subpoena seeking police records related to the company.
Despite the subpoena and numerous customer complaints about Mr. Glodzik's billing practices, the charges were unrelated to his business with the City of Wilkes-Barre, said Assistant Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, whose office filed the charges after receiving the case from the FBI. Mr. Sangueldolce said his investigation didn't use evidence obtained in the Feb. 6 subpoena and said he couldn't comment on whether another investigation was ongoing. FBI spokeswoman Carrie Adamowski said the bureau does not comment on the status of investigations.
According to court documents detailing the investigation, a state police trooper working with the FBI approached Mr. Glodzik in December 2012. The officer told Mr. Glodzik he led a regional drug task force and that he had discretion to pick the companies that towed vehicles involved in criminal investigations.
Over the course of several meetings at the LAG Towing garage, 307 Carey Ave., Mr. Glodzik asked about money that was found in the vehicles. When the officer told Mr. Glodzik it goes into evidence, Mr. Glodzik "indicated with a combination of verbal and hand gestures that anytime a vehicle is towed at the request of (the officer) he could leave any money found inside the vehicle and the two could square up or share the money later."
When the FBI staged the sting operation on Jan. 29, the officer asked Mr. Glodzik to tow a Cadillac supposedly involved in a drug arrest. Investigators planted $2,100 of bait money in the car's ashtray.
Mr. Glodzik towed the vehicle to the LAG Towing garage, where the officer saw him remove the cash from the car and put it in his pocket. After giving the officer $1,100 of the cash and pocketing the remaining $1,000, Mr. Glodzik was arrested.
Magisterial District Judge Rick Cronauer arraigned Mr. Glodzik this afternoon and released him on $5,000 unsecured bail, saying he did not consider Mr. Glodzik a flight risk. A preliminary hearing was set for June 18.
After indefinitely suspending LAG Towing, the city has temporarily hired Falzone Towing Service to replace the company.
Contact the writers: chong@citizensvoice.com, jhalpin@citizensvoice.com