FBI Uses Storage Units to Bust Bad Chicago Cops

Units at two local self-storage facilities were recently used in sting operations conducted by the FBI and Internal Affairs Division to bust bad cops, the Chicago Sun-Times reported last Wednesday. After receiving complaints about officers who allegedly invade homes and steal valuables, the Chicago Police Department is making efforts to remove undesirables from its force.
 
In June, undercover agents rented a unit at Grand-Pulaski Self Storage and stored a black bag containing $20,000, according to an FBI affidavit. They then instructed an informant to share the information with two suspected officers, Richard Doroniuk and Mahmoud Shamah, as well as a civilian intermediary, Larry Cross. Cross had supposedly asked the informant for details regarding good targets for theft.
 
The officers allegedly went to the storage unit with a search warrant and two unidentified PD members. Surveillance agents claimed to see them enter and exit the unit with bolt-cutters. When they left, the money was purportedly missing. As of early this month, there were no police records to indicate the funds had been seized or inventoried, authorities said.
 
In August, the FBI set up another storage-facility sting maneuver. During this operation, the FBI put more than $18,000 of fake drug money in a storage unit and again told its informant leak the info to Cross. According to authorities, Doroniuk, Shamah and four unidentified officers went to the unit with a search warrant and grabbed the cash. They proffered $7,000 as evidence and allegedly kept the rest.
 
After further FBI investigation that included wire taps and tape recordings, Doroniuk and Shamah were arrested for allegedly conspiring to commit theft. They were expected to appear in court on Oct. 25th. The former joined Chicago PD in January 2000, the latter in August 2001. Both are tactical officers in the Morgan Park District.