The self-proclaimed “first gay officer in the LAPD” has been arrested and charged with assault with a firearm and criminal threats after a domestic dispute with his husband.
57-year-old Mitchell Grobeson was arrested late last week after allegedly pointing a handgun at his husband and ordering him to leave their West Hollywood residence. The husband then called the police, leading to a multi-hour standoff between the officers and Grobeson, who later surrendered.
The Los Angeles Times reports that he filed multiple lawsuits that alleged the department discriminated against him because he was gay:
In 1988, at age 29, Grobeson filed a lawsuit against the LAPD, alleging that fellow officers and their superiors forced him to resign following a mix of threats and intimidation over his sexual orientation.
Before resigning from the force in 1988, Grobeson had served for nearly seven years. He alleged in his lawsuit that superiors called him a pejorative term and that he once received a package labeled “AIDS survival kit.”
In February 1993, Grobeson, along with two other officers, won $770,000 in damages and a promise by the department to improve its recruitment, hiring and training of gay officers.
Grobeson filed a second lawsuit against the department in 1996, alleging that the LAPD had failed to carry out the reforms promised in the earlier settlement. He also alleged that officers and supervisors were harassing him on the job after he returned to the department.
Grobeson settled the second lawsuit with the LAPD in 2013. He’s currently being held on $100,000 bail, and faces up to 14 years in state prison.
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Mark Angstman
I was at the airport to pick up a friend returning from the Gay Games and I met him. Suffice it to say he was arrogant prick!
Bailey Bednar
death penalty.. fry this fucker.
DCguy
If he filed two lawsuits and the department paid him out and greed to abide by the demands, it sounds like the behavior was more than alleged.
GayEGO
Well, Michelle should know better than to have a hissy-fit with his husband, being a police officer. He should go to prison for his illegal actions.
da90027
Even the gay cops have anger and control issues.
Glücklich
Shouldn’ta burned dinner, bitch!
Stewart Rubin
Mazel Tov.
Rocco Vader
Nice role model for the rest of us gays…turn in your membership card…
robho3
Shocking!
Jaroslaw
Of course, I’m not excusing his bad behavior, but it will be a long time, if ever, before Gays will not be traumatized by society, peer groups, religion, family and discriminatory government laws. That said, this guy is not too bright. He has to know that in every organization, most people do what they’re told. And when the LAPD had the chance to fry his a$$ by arresting him, they took it. He wasn’t going to get the “courtesy” of the blue wall of silence.
Bob LaBlah
To bad you guys missed the 60 minutes segment he was featured on. I remember him and two others very well and never understood why they hung around as long as they did.
dgsea06
His husband? Where, when and how were they married? And by whom? I say Whaaa?
Reminds me of a comment on a blog years ago: “Breaking News! There’s a cat stuck in a tree! Is it in your neighborhood? Tune in tonight at 5 pm for all the latest details!”
Breathlessly Waiting…
Yrs Truly
joeyty
@Glücklich: ( lol….oh man..)
Tom Remillard
Well it was bound to happen….
heath0043
Unfortunately many (not all) but many police officers let the supposed power go to their heads.
someonefromny
@Jaroslaw: was wondering who would try to blame someone else for his behavior and its consequences
Kevin J Desmond
He looks like an arrogant prick, and that has nothing to do with his 70 mustache either. Ok so now it’s time to strip him of his badge and throw his ass in jail like any other common criminal.
stnc
As Judge Judy might say! He’s a litigator with anger issues! How’s the husband? I would fancy having gun in my face whilst the other is having a domestic!
Anyone remember that great song DIVORCE?
darkanser
Based on this article alone, I don’t care to rush to judgment. While I can never condone such behavior, I can only imagine what it must have been like to be a gay officer in the LAPD!!!
darkanser
@Kevin J Desmond: I think the 70s style mustache is dancing through my mind but I’m kind of retro……
Michael Paul
This is why we can’t have nice things.
CurlyMop
Smh
Terrycloth
The department discriminated against him because he was gay. Was gay ? Sounds like he tried it once and changed his mind.beacuse he is gay or because I am gay .big difference.
Billy Budd
The police training dehumanizes officers. They become violent and dangerous. They learn how to kill. They learn how to control other people by force. It is not uncommon for them to have psychiatric issues due to the profession. Also, their work is very stressful. They feel they can be killed any second in a police raid. It is a difficult profession and many of them simply crack up. A gay officer has even more reasons to crack up, due to the prejudice he has to face everyday.
strix1
@Billy Budd: Totally agree!
There are some really good, well balanced officers out there, a lot of them…but the few that go bad…when they go bad is bad news!
2jagmatt
I knew him from back then (87-89) (in W. Hollywood), and in S.F. early ’90’s. He was a fantastic/intense/robust man dealing with overwhelming public issues (the discrimination from the LAPD). Being that it was such a public issue and that it would impact the rest of his life and career, you can understand how much stress he has had to endure.
I’m not making excuses for his latest actions. I am pointing out that since he was a police officer and his issues were so public, that they stand out as a news story. But this is only a very small and very misleading snapshot of Mitch as a person. I have never witnessed any poor or unsavory behavior from him – ever. And can point out that he, in fact, was a very upstanding, honest and moral person dealing with “everyday” matters, on the whole.
I would also like to point out that he has brought to light incredibly important issues as to what discrimination gays face in “every” level of society. And by doing so, made it easier to be gay and not be so easily bullied for being gay.
It is unfortunate that his “legacy” has been so easily tarnished after all the suffering he has had to live with. He was and is a decent man, regardless.
Trevor McGee
Charming. Because he doesn’t get to see enough of how domestic violence ruins lives…
Steven Burr
Well, dam
Ben Stimpson
So being the first openly gay anything stops someone from doing horrible things?
jbqueernews04
No excuse for domestic violence. Certainly not for a police officer. No evidence, either, that he has been treated any differently from any other person who has pointed a handgun at their spouse. This has turned from a story about the matter at hand to an indictment of the hiring practices of the LAPD of thirty years ago. And I dont understand some of the hostility here. “Death penalty for this guy – Fry the fucker”? Who exactly is he supposed to have killed? Not his partner – read the story again.
youarekiddingme
@Bailey Bednar: And what’s the punishment for actually hitting someone?? Fry em twice?? Stupid comment made by a callous, superficial person. Domestic violence is one of the worst crimes. It’s usually a crime of control and violence. If he’s guilty (btw he was arrested and charged…we are still innocent until PROVEN guilty in America) then he deserves the same treatment that anyone else in society with the same criminal record and same offense receives.
@Kevin J Desmond: Sorry, can’t “…strip him of his badge…”, he’s retired!
@Bailey Bednar:
Here’s the law…duh!
Here’s a copy of the Penal Code in California for Domestic Violence. A felony CONVICTION could result in 2-4 years in state prison:
http://www.shouselaw.com/domestic_violence273-5.html