Deputy chief asked to resign amid sexual harassment complaint he denies

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — In a Channel 2 Action News exclusive, we have learned that Brookhaven's deputy police chief has resigned amid a sexual harassment investigation.

The former officer, Juan Grullon, denies all allegations lodged by another high-ranking colleague, and said he learned of most of the details when Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr showed up at his home Friday.

“That’s what hurts the most is I’ve never been given an opportunity to explain anything,” Grullon told Carr. “This has been an emotional roller coaster. You have no idea.”

Grullon submitted a resignation letter on Nov. 8, agreeing to help the city facilitate an effort to find his replacement.

Carr filed for additional records, and the city returned a formal sexual harassment complaint against Grullon made by a police lieutenant in late October.

Records show the city hired an outside law firm to investigate the claims that stem from an Oct. 13 formal police event that Grullon helped to organize.

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It took place at a DeKalb County hotel. The accuser says it was the event that finally made her come forward about alleged inappropriate behavior by Grullon. She said his rank and potential for retaliation had previously deterred her from filing a complaint on him.

In the complaint, the lieutenant told investigators Grullon’s wife was visibly upset when he introduced the two women, calling the lieutenant his “work wife."

“I introduced her to my wife as being my work wife, simply because that what she had stressed in my office between her and another female,” Grullon told Carr. "They were going over who was my work wife because I spend more hours at work than I do at home. But that’s it.”

The complaint goes on to say Grullon asked the lieutenant whether she was staying in the hotel and was insistent in offering her drink he could make in his room. She told investigators that she allowed him to go up and make the drink but proceeded to leave the event with two other people, including another officer.

Grullon admits he called the woman to find out where she’d gone, and she told the city she had the officers drive her back to the hotel parking, so she got the drink he’d insisted she have.

“…He placed both of his hands on the upper part of my arms, pulled me towards him and said, ‘why didn’t you tell me you were coming alone,” the lieutenant wrote.

“…He continued to tell me he would not have brought his wife and he would have come alone too if he knew I was coming alone. I was stunned by these statements.”

The lieutenant says Grullon went on to say he’d “waited five years for this…” before she got back into the car with another officer and that officer’s fiancé. She said at 1:16 a.m., Grullon sent her text that she didn’t reply to, but showed to a female colleague, and later on, investigators. Grullon wanted to know if she was coming back to Brookhaven.

Grullon has been with Brookhaven PD since 2013 and was often a celebrated and promoted officer profiled by the department for his leadership.

He denies touching the lieutenant and says his comments were taken out of context.

“When some people decided that they were not going to…that they were going to do their own thing – I said ‘we waited five years for this. Five years waiting for the spouses and for this ball for everyone to do their own thing and that’s where that came from,” Grullon told Carr, saying the special event plan was a way for the department to get to know one another during a happy occasion.”

In her letter the lieutenant went on to say that the incidents, and past advances, have taken a huge toll on her personal and professional life.

“Since that time, I have been having serious concerns and anxiety about working for the Brookhaven Police Department knowing that my superior has sexual and/or romantic feelings for me and lacks respect for me as a woman and my position within the department,” she wrote.

“There was really no conclusive information that said the event was as described but there were enough other behaviors that were uncovered in the investigation that indicated a change need to be made,” City Manager Christian Sigman told Carr.

While Grullon said he was forced to resign without full details of the sexual harassment allegations and given a 10-minute window to respond to unbecoming behavior allegations, Sigman said the process played out with Grullon accepting responsibility.

“No one's made to resign,” Sigman said. “It's their signature to put on the document. I expressed to him the preliminary findings we found at the beginning of the investigation based on those he took ownership of that and chose to resign.”

Sigman said there will be a long process to identify Grullon’s replacement. It will include input from the City Council and taxpayers.

Cox Media Group