The Toronto Police investigation into Rob Ford hits a snag, as the OPP steps back

Last week, rumours began circulating that Rob Ford’s arrest was imminent. The front page of today’s Star describes one reason that was never true: the Ontario Provincial Police, who were called in to oversee the Toronto Police investigation into the mayor’s activities last month, have reduced their role in the case after a disagreement with Toronto detectives.

And disagreements don’t get more fundamental than this. According to the Star, the OPP takes issue with a central assumption of entire Toronto Police investigation: that the mayor or his associates used extortion in an attempt to recover the crack video. The Star’s sources say OPP detective Chris Nicholas, who was assigned to oversee the probe, believes Ford was actually a victim of extortion, not the perpetrator.

Toronto Police have been able to get search warrants related to Rob Ford and his circle of acquaintances, meaning crown attorneys and at least one judge are satisfied that the investigation isn’t baseless. The Star, which has access to police documents that haven’t yet been authorized for public release, reports that both the Toronto Police theory and the OPP one “are possible and are not mutually exclusive.”

And so the takeaway is nothing new: we wait and see. But mostly, we wait.