‘Buy These Or I Take Your Car’: Anti-Gay Police Officer Shakes Down Driver, Calls Him A ‘Fruitcake’

“Either you buy these or I take your car,” a police officer threatens a man before telling him, “You look like a fruitcake.”

After pulling a man over for driving an unregistered vehicle last Thursday, Officer Matthew Zagursky, a nine-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police department, flashed tickets to a fundraiser and proceeded to shakedown the driver.

“Either you buy these or I take your car, ’cause it’s unregistered.”

The tickets were for the Hero Thrill Show, an annual fundraiser that helps pay for the college tuition of the children of fallen officers and firefighters.

Video of the interaction shows the driver handing over $30 to the police officer in exchange for the tickets, and the privilege of keeping his car. After officer Zagursky receives the funds, he then starts spewing homophobic commentary.

“What’s up with the (audio beeped out) wipers?” he asks the driver. The Huffington Post reports that the uncensored version says, “What’s up with the faggot ass wipers?” After the driver explains the pink windshield wipers are in support of his grandmother who went through breast cancer, the officer quickly snaps back.

“Breast cancer I can understand, but can’t you support breast cancer in another way? You look like a fruitcake, you know? What the hell?”

“No part of that video is good,” explained Commissioner Charles Ramsey after the video footage went viral. “He used the tickets as a lever to not do his duty; that’s extortion.”

According to Philly.com, officer Zagursky has been pulled from North Philly’s 24th District and placed on administrative duty.

 

Image: Screenshot of Facebook video via Rob Stay Faded