Indicted Boulder City police officer faces new terrorism charge
A veteran Boulder City police officer, already facing charges of stealing from his disabled son, was ordered held without bail Monday after authorities said he threatened to shoot judges and lawyers.
After an encounter with police in Henderson last week, Jeffrey Grasso, 49, was charged with resisting a public officer and making threats or conveying false information concerning an act of terrorism.
According to a police report, Grasso sent a text message on Wednesday to his ex-wife regarding a child support issue. In a phone conversation, she said they would have to go to court to resolve the matter, and he responded by saying that he “would shoot up the courthouses and judges and attorneys.”
When police arrived at his home the next day, he screamed obscenities at officers and refused their commands, the report alleges.
Grasso is awaiting trial on two counts of exploitation of a vulnerable person, two counts of theft, five counts of forgery, four counts of burglary, and one count of offering a false instrument for filing or record.
His lawyer, Brian Smith, said he would work to get his client, who suffers from major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, released from the Clark County Detention Center before his August trial date.
Between January 2014 and May 2016, according to the indictment, Grasso forged invoices from the Hyperbaric Institute of Nevada in Henderson in order to falsely withdraw more than $10,000 from charitable accounts and the proceeds of a lawsuit set up to care for his son.
Giulian Grasso, 21, suffered a traumatic brain injury after falling off his skateboard in April 2012. He now uses a wheelchair, and during a June 2016 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal about emergency treatment he received at St. Rose Dominican Hospital, Siena Campus, he was unable to use his left arm and was trying to learn to walk.
After Jeffrey Grasso’s indictment in January, the Boulder City Police Department said the 15-year veteran of the force was placed on unpaid leave, pending the results of his criminal case and a concurrent internal investigation.
Grasso’s brother, attorney Gabe Grasso, represented O.J. Simpson during his trial for a 2007 robbery in Las Vegas.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.