Charge dropped against former Glendale police sergeant accused of soliciting prostitute
A charge against a former Glendale police sergeant accused of soliciting a prostitute at a Las Vegas casino was dismissed Tuesday after he “stayed out of trouble,” paid a fine and completed an AIDS awareness class, officials said.
Vahak Mardikian, 50, was charged in August 2014 with offering an undercover detective posing as a prostitute $250, plus $25 in gas money, for sex, Las Vegas Justice Court records show.
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According to a Las Vegas police report, Mardikian was gambling around 2 a.m. one Friday at the Flamingo Las Vegas Casino, where he was vacationing with friends, when he approached the woman and spoke with her for almost an hour before making an offer she accepted. During the conversation, Mardikian asked the woman if she was a cop and denied being one himself.
The incident occurred three months after Mardikian settled his discrimination lawsuit against the city of Glendale in an agreement that gave him his full salary — $10,579 a month — while on paid leave until he retired on Dec. 29, 2015.
The solicitation charge was dismissed after Mardikian paid a $1,000 fine, completed the eight-hour AIDS class and avoided additional run-ins with the law, according to Angela Holland, a Las Vegas Justice Court judicial executive assistant.
“Everything was done,” Holland said.
Mardikian’s attorney Phillip Brown could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mardikian, who joined the Glendale force in 1990 and was promoted to sergeant in 2002, was one of five current and former officers who sued the city in 2010, claiming they were discriminated against and harassed because they are Armenian.
Two years after filing the federal lawsuit, Mardikian was demoted to the rank of officer following allegations that he was divisive and that he pressured other officers to join his lawsuit. He successfully appealed and was reinstated as sergeant the following year.
Under the settlement agreement, the city agreed to pay Mardikian $24,792 over a yearlong period, while the city’s insurance company, AIG, would pay $250,000 to his attorneys.
According to CalPERS, Mardikian currently has a net retirement income of $7,522 a month.
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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com
Twitter: @atchek
