Arrested last month in a prostitution ring sting operation in which he allegedly offered an undercover vice detective $275 for sex acts and fuel, Glendale police sergeant Vahak Mardoun Mardikian is set to receive $10,000+ per month in a settlement for accusations of anti-Armenian sentiment in the Glendale police department, despite a diverse workforce.
Mardikian has been charged with misdemeanor soliciting prostitution for an offer of $275 in return for sexual acts at Las Vegas, Nevada’s Flamingo Casino, according to a police report posted by Glendale News Press.
“Glendale Police Chief Robert Castro said his department was informed of the incident at the end of the last week, and is currently determining the department’s next steps. However, he said little would likely be done until the Las Vegas case has been resolved,” Glendale News Press reported.
Back in 2010, Mardikian and four other officers filed claims of anti-Armenian discrimination against the Glendale Police Department. The Glendale police department demoted Markidian in 2012; various reports cite bullying other officers to join the lawsuit and harassing and belittling other officers as the reason for the demotion. He later got the Civil Service Commission to side with him, and he was reinstated last year, according to the Los Angeles Times.
LA Weekly stated that Mardikian, “was ultimately give a huge settlement, basically by claiming that the department, half of which is made up of Armenian, black, and Latino cops, is anti-Armenian.”
Due to the settlement, Mardikian will receive $10,579 per month on paid leave through December, 2015, Los Angeles Weekly reported. At that time, Mardikian will take lifetime retirement at the age of 50 from California Public Employees Retirement System (CALPERS), according to court documents, an amount estimated by some to rank in the triple digits, per year, for the rest of his life.
An additional $24,792 will reportedly be paid over the course of a year. And finally, $250,000 is to be paid to Mardikian’s attorneys by the city’s insurer, AIG.
“Markidian’s exact salary has not been released, but given that more senior police in the Glendale-Los Angeles area earn an average of $112,890 (not including the perks, like nearly free or free health coverage), he’ll almost certainly be in line to collect six figures for the rest of his life as of next year,” according to L.A. Weekly.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
Photo: Courtesy Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Glendale News Press
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