Parks Dept. Retaliates Against Hero Park Ranger After Taking Dangerous Gun Off The Street

A hero Park Ranger who took a loaded 9mm hand gun with an illegal 15 bullet magazine from a pervert in Prospect Park has been retaliated against by the Parks Department and put on desk duty.

"They don’t like it when we do enforcement,’ Marsala said. ‘All they had to do was say, ‘Good job,’ and I would have been happy with that.’ (Photo by Andrew Hinderaker /The Chief-Leader)

On November 3rd, a female park patron flagged down Parks Department Urban Park Ranger Andrew Marsala who was driving on a path near the picnic house. The woman complained that the man had repeatedly exposed himself to her in the past. The Ranger gave chase after the suspect started to run. Ranger Marsala apprehended Glen Perouza, 53 after a struggle which required the assistance of a park patron who helped subdue the perpetrator who was resisting arrest.

Upon the initial search an eight inch box cutter was recovered, and marijuana was found in the suspect's coat pocket.

After escorting the prisoner inside the 78Pct, a NYPD desk Sgt. suggested Marsala double-check the vehicle Perouza was transported in. The ranger went back to the car where he discovered a loaded Taurus Pt. 99 hand gun wedged between the seat in the back of his vehicle.

For at least the last three years Urban Park Rangers management have not given rangers enforcement training according to numerous park sources. Rangers say they have been requesting it.

One of Mayor Bloomberg's major initiatives has been taking illegal guns off the streets.

"They want us to look the other way and not get involved, " said a PEP officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity. - Geoffrey Croft

Brooklyn

IN A CASE of no good deed goes unpunished, an Urban Park Ranger who nabbed a gun-totting pervert in a wooded area inside Prospect Park, has been pulled off the park beat and assigned desk duty, according to the New York Daily News.

Ranger Andrew Marsala, 26, landed in hot water after he nabbed Glen Perouza, 53, for exposing himself in the Brooklyn park on November 3.

Investigators believe Perouza was carrying a loaded gun at the time of his arrest and Marsala missed the gun while searching him, said sources. Although he didn’t find the gun, Marsala did find a stash of marijuana in Peruza's coat pocket.

The loaded 9-mm handgun with 15 rounds of ammunition was later found by Marsala wedged between the seat in the back of his vehicle after he transported Perouza to the 78th Precinct in Park Slope, said police.

"He took his life into his own hands," said Joseph Puleo, vice president of Union Local 893, which represents NYC Urban Park Rangers.

"Instead of saying you risked your life and your own personal safety and you did this alone, they turn around and interrogate him and put him behind a desk."

Marsala has been a Parks Department employee for two years and has an impressive on the job record, said Puleo.

He solved a bizarre case of urban poachers in Prospect Park last year, tracking down and issuing summonses to a group of homeless people, after they were caught trapping and eating ducks, fish and other small animals, while living in a wooded area inside the park.

Marsala declined to comment.

The NYC Parks Department also declined to comment on Marsala’s assignment.

Read More:

Caught perv, missed gun and ends up on desk duty

Ranger Andrew Marsala pulled off beat in Prospect Park

New York Daily News - November 30 2011 - By John Doyle

Park ranger who caught pervert gets jerked around

The Brooklyn Paper - November 28, 2011 - By Natalie O'Neill

Parks Dept. Reprimands Hero Park Ranger For Stopping Sexual Criminal With Gun In Prospect Park

A Walk In The Park - November 22, 2011

Prospect Park Gun Scare: Park Ranger Apprehends "Indecent" Man With Loaded Gun

A Walk In The Park - November 4, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft