Monrovia Mayor Faces Felony Counts in Domestic Dispute Case

Monrovia Mayor Robert T. Bartlett--one of the San Gabriel Valley’s more prominent public officials, who is often referred to as “Mr. Monrovia” by his constituents--is facing felony charges relating to a fight with his girlfriend, police officials say.

The mayor was arrested last month and has been charged with making terrorist threats, battery of a cohabitant and false imprisonment. Bartlett, 60, allegedly abducted his 35-year-old girlfriend from a home in San Bernardino and wrestled with her before she managed to call police, San Bernardino police said. The couple’s 4-year-old child was left behind in the house, police said.

News of the arrest stunned Rialto City Administrator Walter Kane, who immediately suspended Bartlett as that city’s director of economic development and redevelopment.

“We had no knowledge of this incident,” said Kane. “I would have expected Mr. Bartlett to tell me about anything like this.”

Monrovia council members also said they were unaware of the charges, which surfaced over the weekend.

“I think it is pretty shocking. These are pretty serious allegations for anyone to face,” said Mayor Pro Tem Tom Adams. “This isn’t something you consider for a public official.”

Bartlett, first elected to the Monrovia council in 1974 and elected mayor for the last dozen years, did not return telephone calls Monday.

He was arrested shortly after 5 p.m. April 15 at a home in the 5200 block of North Sierra Mesa Road in San Bernardino, police said. Bartlett’s girlfriend, whose name was not released, told police the Monrovia mayor shared the address with her and their 4-year-old son.

San Bernardino Police Lt. Bill Smith said Bartlett and the woman started arguing at the home, and it escalated to the point at which he allegedly grabbed her, threw her into a car and drove off. “He left the front door open and their 4-year-old child inside,” Smith said.

As the pair drove around the city, Bartlett allegedly threatened to throw the woman “off a local bridge,” Smith said. That prompted the woman to call 911 from a cellular telephone in the car when the couple later parked outside a restaurant, according to Smith.

Officers dashed to the location, but the car was already gone, he said. “Bartlett then apparently became scared and decided to take her home,” Smith said.

After she arrived, she called police again and they responded, he added. The woman complained of bleeding related to her pregnancy of seven months, and she was taken by paramedics to St. Bernardine Medical Center for treatment, Smith said.

Smith said Bartlett was released on $150,000 bail.

Prosecutors charged Bartlett with the three felonies three days later. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to appear in San Bernardino Superior Court on May 24.

“This involves a domestic violence situation, stemming from a long-standing relationship Bartlett had with a woman who resides in San Bernardino,” said James Hackleman, San Bernardino County’s chief deputy district attorney in charge of the criminal division.

Bartlett separated from his wife several years ago and was believed to be living in his mother’s Monrovia home, Monrovia city officials said. Documents show, however, that he is registered to vote at a second Monrovia house and listed a Monrovia address on the San Bernardino police report.

However, a search of national databases shows that Bartlett has used the North Sierra Mesa Road address in San Bernardino in the past. And now his girlfriend’s claim that he lives with her in San Bernardino county has left some constituents and former council colleagues wondering about the man they often called “Mr. Monrovia.”

“People have long wondered if he lived somewhere else,” said Phyllis McCarville, a former councilwoman. She said the incident has cast a shadow over the community of 36,000, 19 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

“It is a very, very sad thing for Monrovia,” she said. “After all the good that has come to Monrovia, it didn’t take it long to turn it upside down.”

As Monrovia’s mayor, Bartlett has helped secure businesses such as Office Depot and Computer USA, worked to develop low- and moderate-income housing projects, and revitalized its Old Town.

Those efforts, which many credit with transforming the San Gabriel Valley suburb, landed Monrovia the All-American City award in 1995. Three years later, Bartlett was so popular that he ran for mayor unopposed for a sixth term, which is up next March.

Bartlett’s experience as Monrovia’s mayor won him his $92,000-a-year job in Rialto three years ago, officials in that San Bernardino County city say.

Bartlett is from a politically prominent family. His father, Ray Bartlett, is a retired Pasadena police officer and one of the San Gabriel Valley’s leading African American figures. The senior Bartlett is a former president of the Pasadena Metropolitan YMCA Board. He was also a friend of the late Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in major league baseball.

The younger Bartlett, a large, imposing man, was a football coach at Citrus Community College and a finalist for the 1960 U.S. Olympic heavyweight boxing team.

He has served as president of the Southern California Assn. of Governments, a regional planning agency, and the League of California Cities. He is chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for the National League of Cities.