Photo: Defendant Nicholas Bloed, a former Stockton PD sergeant, appears in the court for arraignment iat San Joaquin Superior Court in Stockton on Monday. (Harika Maddala/ Bay City News / Catchlight Local)
A former Stockton police sergeant and an officer were arraigned Monday afternoon on two separate cases at a courthouse in Stockton.
Nicholas Bloed, 41, who began his employment in March 2008 with the Stockton Police Department and was arrested last Wednesday, was arraigned and denied bail.
Last week the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office charged Bloed with 15 counts related to alleged sexual assault, prostitution and bribery, involving eight victims.
According to the DA, Bloed’s alleged victims were men and woman he met while on duty.
“As you know, my time in the district attorney’s office is coming to an end, but in my 35 years in this office, these are some of the most despicable allegations I have encountered against a police officer,” said San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar, at a press conference.
Bloed is accused of one count of assault with intent to commit mayhem, rape, sodomy, oral copulation; five counts of assault by a public officer; two counts of oral copulation by use of force or injury; two counts of unauthorized use of computer services; three counts of asking or receiving bribes; one count of prostitution-providing compensation and one count of sodomy by use of force, according to court documents.
The city’s police department severed ties with Bloed last month.
He’s scheduled to appear in court for bail review and further arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Following Bloed’s arraignment, officer Ny Tran – who is out of custody and on administrative leave – appeared in front of the same judge on unrelated allegations.
Tran – who was arrested last week – is charged with seven counts related to forgery, identity theft, grand theft, theft from an elder, and fraudulent use of a credit card.
Tran is accused of stealing nearly $50,000 from Ken Urabe from July 14 to Aug. 4 who he met during a call for service, according to Salazar.
Salazar said her Bureau of Investigations received a tip on the elder fraud line from the state appointed conservator of the victim who had allegedly noticed checks written to Tran in large sums of money in addition to frequent credit card charges.
Tran’s attorney Chris Walsh asked the public to keep an open mind and reserve judgement about his client.
“We are going to look closely at the evidence, obviously if he’s done something wrong there will be accountability for that but in the meantime, I would ask folks not to prejudge this case and let the process play out,” Walsh said.
Salazar asked potential victims of either police officer to come forward so authorities can hold law enforcement accountable.
“This is not a position for you to profit from, or to sexually exploit people, this is an honor and a privilege to be a law officer in our community,” said Salazar. “And like I said, 99.9 percent do it every day and do it well, but that less than one percent we’re going to always hold them accountable and we’re not going to apologize for it.”
Tran is set to appear in court Dec. 13 at 8:30 a.m. and his pre-trial monitoring will continue.