Rep. Perzel's son enters first-time offenders' program, avoids trial

Samuel Perzel, son of state Rep. John M. Perzel, R-Philadelphia, has been accepted into a program for nonviolent first-time offenders - thus avoiding a trial related to an alleged assault on a police officer last year.

Perzel, 18, was arrested in November after he allegedly hit a female police officer in the face.

He was scheduled to face trial on misdemeanor charges of simple assault, resisting arrest and related offenses.

Instead, in court yesterday, defense attorney Joseph Canuso and Assistant District Attorney Jill Fertel told Municipal Court Judge Karen Y. Simmons that Perzel has been accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program.

Perzel, a college freshman outside the city, was not in court.

Canuso said after the brief proceeding that his client is expected to appear in court April 4, when he is to formally enter the ARD program.

Perzel was accepted into the program because he had no prior arrests and because the police officer suffered "no injuries," Fertel said.

The officer, Melissa Curcio, approved Perzel's entering the program, the prosecutor said.

The details of what Perzel will face in ARD have yet to be worked out, Charles "Chip" Junod, supervisor of the D.A.'s pre-trial unit, said afterward. Perzel, like all defendants who enter the program, will face some type of probation.

He may also have to perform some type of community service, which is usually a component of ARD in assault cases, Junod said.

If Perzel completes the program, charges against him will be expunged.

According to police records, Perzel - who "had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath" - was in a rowdy crowd of 50 to 75 people who had gathered on 2nd Street near Tasker in South Philadelphia around midnight on Nov. 18.

Police were called to break up several small fights and to disperse the crowd.

Curcio, of the 3rd District in South Philly, testified at a Nov. 27 preliminary hearing that she hadn't seen Perzel fighting, but that he had a mark on his face that indicated he might have been brawling before she arrived.

When she asked him to leave the area and he refused, she attempted to place him under arrest for disorderly conduct, she testified.

She said she reached for Perzel's left elbow, and that he swung his left forearm back and hit her.

Curcio said she then wrestled Perzel to the ground because he was resisting her attempts to place him in handcuffs. She finally secured him with help from other officers.

Perzel was originally charged with aggravated assault, which is routinely lodged when the alleged victim is a law-enforcement official.

Municipal Court Judge Harvey Robbins dismissed the aggravated-assault charge at the preliminary hearing for lack of evidence. Aggravated assault is the causing of or the attempt to cause serious bodily injury to another person.

Subsequently, Perzel faced misdemeanor charges and the case was sent to Municipal Court for trial. *