Former Henderson mayor charged for groping woman, fighting police

Friday, Sept. 10, 1999 | 4:13 a.m.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS - Prosecutors have filed lewdness and battery charges against former Henderson Mayor Robert Groesbeck despite pleas to drop the case from the woman he is accused of groping.

The charges stem from police accusations that Groesbeck fondled Las Vegan Gay Gustafson at the Mandalay Bay resort a week ago, then fought with an officer as he was being arrested.

Gustafson said that she is not recanting her allegations against Groesbeck, but she thinks the man simply deserves a second chance.

"I signed the police statement, and that is what happened," Gustafson said. "But he has apologized to me, it was a heartfelt apology, and I've accepted it."

Speculation that she was pressured into asking prosecutors to drop the charges are misguided, Gustafson said.

But District Attorney Stewart Bell said his office won't drop the charges because prosecutors believe Groesbeck broke the law.

"It doesn't make any difference to us," Bell said. "We believe there is some accountability required in this case, and it is our obligation to pursue it on behalf of the public."

On Sept. 3 he was at the Mandalay Bay's exclusive club, the Foundation Room, with a group of Silver State executives when, according to Gustafson, he approached her while she was sitting with her husband and friends.

Gustafson said Groesbeck, whom she didn't know, reached over her shoulder and grabbed her breast.

According to police reports, Groesbeck then became combative when Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sgt. Clark Paris attempted to question him while in the custody of Mandalay Bay security. The two struggled and Groesbeck put Paris into a headlock, the reports said.

Groesbeck, 38, served as Henderson mayor from 1993 to 1997.