Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey is none to happy with Officer Matthew Zagursky, a Philly patrolmen who got a little over-zealous in his efforts to sell tickets to a Police Union Fund Raiser to benefit the families of police officers and firefighters who were killed while on duty. Apparently unbeknown to (probably-soon-to-be-ex) Officer Zagursky he was being filmed while he conducted a traffic stop sometime last week.
Zagursky, aged 32 and a nine (9) year veteran cop, stopped a vehicle sometime last week for an alleged registration / tag violation. Although details surrounding the traffic stop (including the date, time and names of the citizens involved) have not been disclosed the incident came to the attention of the Police Commission when two (2) videos from the scene popped up on Facebook. In a nutshell, Zagursky pressured the driver to support a police fundraiser or have his car towed, and when the driver agrees to buy two (2) tickets at $10.00 a piece Zagursky balks at the offer pushing the driver to buy three (3) tickets instead. You can watch the video by clicking here and following is a partial transcript of the extortion, er, the conversation...
Officer: "You and your friend got any money to buy these Thrill Show tickets? Support your police department? Ten bucks each, man?
"Either you buy these, or I take your car. 'Cause it's unregistered. Ten bucks each, man."
Driver: "I got a couple bucks."
Officer: "Support your police department, man. You got any kids?
Driver: "I do not."
Officer (seemingly to passenger): "You have any kids? You got any sweetheart?"
Driver: "Yeah. I'd rather take my girl than this guy."
(Laughter.)
Officer: "You don't want to look like two fruitcakes, you know. All right, well, listen, my man, 10 bucks apiece."
Driver: "Pay there?"
Officer: "Nah, nah, nah, you already paid. You got these tickets, man. Go support your police department."
And if that isn't bad enough Zagursky made a reasonably interpreted homophobic comment about the pink windshield wipers on the vehicle...
Officer: "And what's up with the . . . wipers?" he says.
Driver: "Breast cancer, man; my grandmom went through it," the driver replies.
Officer: "Breast cancer I can understand, but can't you support breast cancer another way?You look like you're a fruitcake. You know, what the hell?"
After watching the Facebook videos Commission Ramsey went on record stating "That's totally inappropriate, and it could very well be illegal. He [Zagursky] tainted a cause that I think is certainly one that I think we should all be proud of." Commissioner Ramsey advised that the fund raiser tickets had been available for about a month and that the police department distributes tickets at district offices but that there is no pressure on officers to sell a certain number. In the meantime Zagursky has been taken off of street patrol, placed on desk duty and had his gun taken away. The Commish added that "Officer Matthew Zagursky embarrassed the police department and may have committed a crime." An internal affairs investigation has commenced but the Commish went even further, advising that he plans on referring the videos to local prosecutors.
Memo to soon-to-be-ex-Officer Zagursky continued: Get your pen ready, I see job applications in your future....
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