Anaheim Officer Pleads Innocent in Assault Case : Courts: Frank Emile Stroobant is accused of trying to run his girlfriend over with a car, striking her in a fight and making terrorist threats.

An Anaheim police officer pleaded innocent Monday to charges that he assaulted his girlfriend with a gun and repeatedly threatened her.

Frank Emile Stroobant, a motorcycle traffic officer, surrendered to the district attorney’s office Thursday after the Orange County Grand Jury indicted him on four charges stemming from alleged incidents beginning more than a year ago, prosecutors said.

The charges consist of two felony counts--assault with a deadly weapon and making terrorist threats--and two misdemeanor assault and battery charges, according to the grand jury indictment.

Stroobant was arrested and booked into the Huntington Beach City Jail on Thursday. He was released the same day after posting a $75,000 bond, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Wendy S. Lindley.

Stroobant is due back in court on July 16 for a preliminary hearing on the charges.

Authorities began investigating allegations of criminal conduct by Stroobant, 45, on Feb. 22, after Riqui K. Sedoris, 44, filed a complaint with the Orange Police Department. Sedoris told police that Stroobant tried to run her over with a car, and that he hit her during a fight.

Sedoris also said that Stroobant assaulted her with a gun in March, 1992.

If convicted of the charges against him, Stroobant faces a maximum punishment of four years and eight months in state prison, and a $10,000 fine, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors, who said that Stroobant and Sedoris are the parents of a year-old boy, declined to provide any further details about the alleged incidents.

Lindley explained that a charge of terrorist threats means the accused has allegedly threatened another person repeatedly with harm or death, had the means to carry it out, and made the victim believe the aggressor would follow through with the threats.

In addition to filing a criminal complaint against Stroobant, Sedoris has also sued Stroobant in Orange County Superior Court for more than $55,000, plus interest. In a lawsuit filed earlier this year, Sedoris charged that Stroobant breached an oral contract involving money from the refinancing of her home to pay off Stroobant’s debts.

According to Sedoris, Stroobant was supposed to contribute $450 a month to help with the living expenses at Sedoris’ home; help pay some of the costs associated with the refinancing, and “provide care, support and comfort” for Sedoris and the child, who was due to be born in March, 1992.

Stroobant failed to fulfill this agreement, according to court papers, and “became violently and physically abusive” to Sedoris.

In a divorce action several years ago, one of Stroobant’s former wives alleged that he “has an extremely violent temper, especially when consuming alcoholic beverages.”

Patricia A. Scott charged that during a May, 1985, altercation, Stroobant assaulted her by putting a loaded gun to her face and threatening to kill her.

A few weeks later, he allegedly waved a gun in her face again, stating that “he wished she were dead,” and then grabbing her and throwing her against a wall, the documents said.

Several weeks later, according to court papers, Stroobant broke a window attempting to enter Scott’s home, prompting her to call the police, who sent him away and advised Scott to seek a restraining order. Scott and Stroobant divorced in 1988, according to court papers.

Walter D. Posey, Stroobant’s attorney, declined to comment Monday.

Stroobant, who has been with the Anaheim Police Department since 1976, has been placed on administrative leave, department officials said. In addition to any criminal investigation conducted by Orange police, the Anaheim department will begin an internal investigation into the allegations. Capt. Peter DePaola, who oversees the motorcycle officers, said Stroobant has never been the subject of a departmental investigation before this.

Stroobant’s suspension was the latest in a series of incidents over the past year that raise questions about the conduct of Anaheim Police Department employees.

Last month, a police sergeant was suspended because of allegations that he sexually harassed at least four women officers working for him. The matter has reportedly been resolved, but police officials declined to discuss the outcome of an internal investigation into the complaints, other than to say that “appropriate action” was taken.

Currently, the district attorney’s office is investigating charges that an employee, who has since left the department, improperly used a police computer to get the home addresses of abortion rights activists and then supplied the information to abortion foes.

The police chief himself was embroiled in controversy late last year for taking a moonlighting position with the Los Angeles Rams. Although city officials found no conflicts of interest in the arrangement, City Manager James D. Ruth said that the “public perception” of Chief Joseph T. Molloy’s second job may be a problem and he is reviewing the matter.

Lt. Marc Hedgpeth, who is in charge of the department’s internal affairs investigations, said he did not believe that the recent rash of incidents pointed to a deeper problem within the department.

“Our view is these are very separate and isolated incidents,” Hedgpeth said. “There’s no trend. The timing may be unfortunate, but there’s no trend.”

Times staff writer Mark I. Pinsky contributed to this story.