A photo of Rob Ford taken in Vancouver Friday, Jan. 31, 2014 about the time he was reportedly ticketed for jaywalking.
Image Credit: Twitter/Justin McElroy
February 01, 2014 - 9:23 AM
VANCOUVER - Rob Ford has travelled to Vancouver but controversy has followed the embattled Toronto mayor.
Media reports say Ford was ticketed for jaywalking Friday night.
The Toronto Sun quoted Ford as saying he was walking across the street near his hotel when an officer told him he had crossed on a red light and had jaywalked and was being ticketed for $109.
RCMP would not immediately comment to The Canadian Press about the reports, but Global News quoted a witness who said he saw the mayor ticketed. A spokesman for Ford could not immediately be reached for comment.
Ford is reportedly in Vancouver for the funeral of a friend's mother.
The Global News report said sources claimed the mayor was ticketed for public intoxication as well as jaywalking, but the Sun quoted the mayor as saying this was not the case and that all he had was a cola.
Ford appeared unhappy with the turn of events, telling the Sun he was shocked and that "they went out of their way to do this."
Still, a ticket for jaywalking would seem to be the least of Ford's troubles.
Earlier this week an ex-boyfriend of Ford's sister filed a lawsuit claiming the mayor conspired to have him attacked in jail to prevent his illicit behaviours from becoming publicly known.
Scott MacIntyre alleges in his statement of claim that Ford arranged for jail staff to facilitate the beating.
MacIntyre was jailed in early 2012 after pleading guilty to a charge of threatening the mayor.
It was there in March 2012 that he was brutally beaten, more than a year before the Toronto Star and U.S. website Gawker reported on the existence of a video appearing to show the mayor smoking crack cocaine.
None of MacIntyre's allegations have been proven in court, and Ford`s lawyer, Dennis Morris, says ''They're without fact or foundation.''
The mayor, however, has admitted to consuming too much alcohol on occasion, as well as smoking crack cocaine, likely in a ''drunken stupor,'' and to smoking marijuana.
One of his friends, Alexander Lisi, is facing drug charges as well as an extortion charge for alleged attempts to retrieve the notorious crack video.
Toward the end of last year as Ford became a punchline for relentless gags by late night comics, his embarrassing behaviour finally prompted city councillors to strip him of most of his mayoral powers.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014