Toronto police say that a video first reported on by media nearly a year ago shows Mayor Rob Ford apparently holding a glass cylinder and a lighter while smoking crack cocaine, according to court documents released by a judge Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The description of the video is the first official description by police, Reuters reported. Ford is not facing criminal charges but police said the investigation continues.
"Mayor Ford is holding what appears to be a glass cylinder in one hand and a lighter in the other hand while engaged in conversation with individual(s) off camera," the documents state, according to Reuters. "At one point Mayor Ford holds the glass cylinder to his mouth. Lights the lighter and applies the flame to the tip of the glass cylinder in a circular motion. After several seconds Mayor Ford appears to inhale."
The video appears to have been filmed surreptitiously showing Ford "consuming what appears to be a narcotic while inside a residence," according to the document, Reuters reported. Ford inhales before he notices a recording device, then "briefly points at the camera and asks if it's on."
Ford is seeking re-election despite the drug scandal engulfing him, Reuters reported. Ford acknowledged last year after months of denials that he smoked crack in a "drunken stupor" after police said they obtained the video, which has never been released to the public.
Police also describe how alleged gang member Mohamed Siad boasts about catching the "mayor smoking crack" in a video recorded on Feb. 17, 2013, at 7:57 PM, according to Reuters. Five videos in total were found on the computer of Siad, police say in the court documents.
News reports of the crack video's existence first surfaced last May, igniting a media firestorm around Ford, according to Reuters. He careened from one scandal to another, becoming a figure of international notoriety and a national embarrassment for many Canadians.
The mayor of Canada's largest city has rebuffed pressure to resign since admitting to smoking crack, Reuters reported. The Toronto City Council stripped him of most of his powers in an effort to isolate him, but it lacked the authority to force him out.
The documents also note that meetings between Ford and his friend and former driver, Alexander Lisi, are "indicative to that of drug trafficking" and that the two have been in constant contact during the investigation, according to Reuters.
Lisi is facing extortion charges over attempts to retrieve the video, which shows the mayor smoking out of the glass cylinder, from an alleged gang member, Reuters reported.
Police believe Siad, one of dozens of people charged in a separate weapons and gang investigation, was trying to sell the crack video, according to Reuters. The documents say the first four videos were failed attempts to video Ford.
Olivia Chow, who is running to replace Ford in the October election, said the ongoing revelations about Ford show "why he is no role model for our children. Our city is tired of the distractions and needs a new mayor," Reuters reported.
