Photo: Gun-Toting Sleepy Cop Caught Snoozing On The F Train

(Courtesy Martin Bisi's Twitter)

An armed NYPD officer was disciplined after getting caught sleeping on the F train last Thursday, according to a straphanger who photographed the cop sawing wood in the middle of the afternoon. Record producer engineer Martin Bisi tells us he boarded the F train at Carroll Street around 3:15 p.m. and immediately spotted the sleepy cop catching some Z's at the end of the subway car. "I was pretty disturbed by the whole thing," Bisi tells us. He got off the train at Jay Street-Metrotech, leaving the officer to his slumbers, but gave it some thought and decided to say something about what he saw.

"I felt I had to do something," says Bisi. "So a couple of hours later I approached a cop on 34th Street, and she couldn't believe the photo. She was shocked. So she took my information and a lieutenant called me fairly quickly, about an hour later." Bisi says the lieutenant, William Scarcella, asked him to forward the photos, and after reviewing the images, Scarcella followed up with Bisi about Sleepy.

According to Bisi, Lt. Scarcella told him the napping cop belongs to a mounted unit, and was off duty at the time. Nevertheless, Scarcella told Bisi he was "disgusted and embarrassed" by the officer's behavior, adding that it was extremely dangerous, considering he was carrying a firearm. Bisi says he was told that even sitting down was against regulations, and that uniformed officers are prohibited from sitting down in the subway.

The lieutenant told Bisi the officer would get some vacation time docked and have the rules explained to him again. "It didn't seem very severe to me as a punishment," Bisi says. A call to Scarcella this afternoon went unanswered, the MTA declined to comment, and the NYPD press office has not yet replied to a request for comment. We'll give them a couple more hours—it's probably naptime.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on February 23, 2012 2:52 PM

Comments [rss]

Nestor Delgado

Looks like a Sargent. Fat chance he's going to get disciplined.

CopsLeaning.com

If you happen to see this happening, shoot an email over to www.copsleaning.com !

Paul Herbig

Ha

patsw

When you're asleep, you're obviously not in control of that firearm, So that's the risk to the public.

paddywtf

okay wizards, if he was sleeping, how was he still holding onto his hat? My guess is that he was trying to picture New York City without all these idiot 'occupiers', liberal wastebags, thugs killing each other, rapists, child molesters, etc....if you notice by the hashmarks, he was contemplating retiring or sticking around a few more years to try to do his part of ridding the City of all the scum taking advantage of the welfare system

2BklynNative2

Does not look good for the cop but wouldn't it be more proactive for the photographer to check to make sure that the cop is not sick before running off and posting pics to the web.

And the photographer is clearly not a young kid - those pics make him look like he is ready to collect on his social security so that claim that he is afraid, makes me wonder .....

renosteve

Martin Bsi must feel good snitching on somebody, getting them in trouble. Of course he's getting all kinds of attention to his website out of the snitching, too. And he thinks the "punishment" is not enough. What would you like, Bsi? Have him lose his job and pension? Nosy attention whores like you, with blogs like Bsi snapping photos of people without their permission, then broadcasting it on the Internet to get attention make me sick.

DPIv2

Oh right reNo should he have woke up the sleeping cop to ask for his approval???? You are not too bright. The cop should have been suspended for at least a couple weeks without pay for this mistake that could have result in a bullet in your head for example reNosteve as you appear to be a troll :)

Martin- Right on brother. We need more citiZens like you that are not afraid to speak or show the truth!!!!

vito33

Awwwwwwwwww. Iddn't him just a seeepy wittle teddy bear??

With a loaded effin' gun.

Ryan Ng

Seriously, that is not funny.

citizen_snips

also in the news: "local recording engineer shat upon by police horse".

nayerr

Okay, I got one more.

FREEZE!!! TURN AROUND AND PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR BED! ..I MEAN HEAD, HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD...AW FUCK!!!

nayerr

I should have stopped at Hot Fuzz 2.

nayerr

Wait I have one more. This is the downtown F train, next stop, desk duty.

eh, that one was no so great.

Ryan Ng

Hey wake up sleepyhead, there's a crime going on in the next car. Can you get them for me? Thanks.

Ryan Ng

What's up with the comments? That's too much already.

nayerr

Hush little transit cop don't say a word, mommas gonna buy you a ...ok I give up.

nayerr

COMING TO THEATERS THIS FALL...HOT FUZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZZzzzz zzzzzzzzz zzzzzz 2. Starring this guy.

nayerr

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHINZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZ

Ryan Ng

"IF YOU SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHINZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZ...."

Let him catch some z's and stop teasinzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzg him.