Mesa park rangers harassed homeless, used racial slurs, new report says
MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — Several Mesa park rangers are on paid leave while another resigned after police found out they were harassing homeless people and using racial slurs as part of a special squad, a new report said, which Arizona’s Family obtained on Tuesday.
According to police records, investigators uncovered the disturbing actions during an April 11 interview, when a park ranger called police about how he found a gun in park ranger Joshua Amado’s desk after overhearing he confiscated it from a homeless man a few days before. According to the park ranger, Amado and a third park ranger were talking on March 26 about the pistol they took off the man whom they called a racial slur and said if “things went sideways,” they’d drop the gun.
The park ranger who found the gun said he hoped Amado would do the right thing and turn the pistol in. He waited a couple of weeks and checked the desk and discovered the gun was still in there on April 11, so he called his lieutenant to report what happened.
The ranger wanted police to check the serial number of the pistol to see where it came from. Officers ran the serial number of the Canik 9mm and discovered it was reported missing on Dec. 29.
The ranger also told investigators he had heard previous conversations between Amado and the third park ranger about “Goon Squad” among park rangers. The group would participate in “gooning” as a way to deal with “the homeless problem and n*****s,” police records said. “Gooning” includes not reporting drugs they confiscate and using excessive force on the homeless, police said.
Members of the squad had patches made, which were a gray shield patch with the words “Ranger,” “Goon Squad,” and “Mesa, AZ” embroidered in black. The patches also had an embroidered black skull, a lightning bolt, a bullet, a baton and handcuffs creating the two o’s in “Goon.”
Police interviewed Amado on April 22, and he said he found the gun in a homeless man’s backpack in the bathroom of Pioneer Park. He claimed didn’t know the policy of what to do with the pistol and then forgot about it, police paperwork said. Amado claimed he didn’t steal it but “acquired it” from a homeless man, investigators said. Police said Amado denied knowing anything about the Goon Squad or the patches.
Amado was arrested and booked into jail on a theft charge. Arizona’s Family is only identifying this ranger since he’s the only one facing charges.
The city of Mesa said it started the process to fire Amado on Thursday but he resigned on Monday. Police reports show at least two other rangers were named as being part of the Goon Squad.
City officials only said “several” park rangers were on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation. The city also said the Mesa Police Department is taking over command of the park rangers unit to “ensure appropriate oversight and professional standards are maintained.” Officials added they were “deeply disturbed” by the allegations.
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