Escondido

A retired police officer who said he was traumatized by witnessing the accidental shooting by another police officer of a bank robbery hostage has been granted disability payments by the City Council.

Robert Mosemak, 39, will receive half of his $25,000 annual salary because doctors have found him suffering from post-traumatic disorder and depression and his condition will not improve, said his attorney, Robert Thiessen.

Mosemak was at the scene in August, 1983, when Leslie Landersman, who had been taken hostage by a bank robber, was mistakenly shot and killed by another Escondido police officer. Mosemak left the force the following year and applied for disability retirement.

But the city’s personnel review board rejected his request, saying he had not sought all the medical options available to him in trying to cure him of the trauma. He appealed the decision to Superior Court, which sided with the city.

“Bob got the care that was suggested for him, but it didn’t turn out to help him so we came back with the second application for disability retirement,” Thiessen said.

Deputy City Atty. Jeffrey Epp said Mosemak’s condition had become “permanent and stationary,” one of the conditions for receiving disability retirement. The City Council on Wednesday approved the request without comment.

Mosemak had an up-and-down career with the Escondido Police Department. In 1970, he was applauded for undercover work that led to the arrest of nearly 70 persons on drug-related charges. But several years later the department tried to fire him for allegedly conspiring with a Carlsbad private detective in attempting to intimidate two men by kidnaping them. Criminal charges against Mosemak were dismissed for lack of evidence by Vista Municipal Court.

Today, Mosemak continues to live in Escondido and is unemployed, Thiessen said.