MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Packing heat and pretending to be the police, investigators said a man has tried it at several South Florida hotspots and even a school.
Police also stated the man had claimed to be an Army Ranger in the military.
“The allegations are pretty concerning, especially in light of the defendant’s criminal history,” said the prosecutor.
Police said the latest chapter of that history happened as the suspect walked around in combat boots, khakis and tactical gear at the famous Fontainebleau Hotel.
This is where 31-year-old Gal Presser of Plantation is accused of telling valet parkers he had an AR-15 in his car, which caused police to be summoned.
Officers confronted him and said he was flustered and belligerent before they questioned him and found a knife, handcuffs and New York Police Department gear in his possession and in his car.
He was arrested Sunday on weapons charges and trespassing, but…
“He’s got prior arrest for false impersonation of a police officer,” said the prosecutor.
That happened back on Nov. 21.
City of Miami Police said he was in front of the Midtown Target store openly carrying a firearm, two handcuffs and a security badge on his waistband.
They said, when confronted, he told an officer he was a North Miami Police officer, then admitted he wasn’t and was taken to jail.
Two days before that, in their report, Miami Police detectives said he came downtown where, they said, he entered a Whole Foods while openly carrying a handgun.
He allegedly asked an employee how long the off-duty City of Miami Police officers stay at Whole Foods each day.
He wasn’t arrested.
That’s not all. On Dec. 2, at Florida International University’s main campus, he was busted for having a weapon on school property.
“Possession of a concealed weapon,” said the prosecutor.
Same drill as in Miami Beach. FIU Police said Presser had a tactical knife and handcuffs that were taken from him after he appeared to be behaving bizarrely.
The court and police said he’s been in violation of a risk protection order. That’s when law enforcement gets a court order to confiscate a person’s guns or ammunition because they pose a serious risk of gun violence.
That Florida law was passed in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting in Parkland.
Presser had a hearing Tuesday and has been ordered to stay in jail with no bond.
He has another court hearing in February.
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