Noted Pasadena Policeman Retires

Pasadena Police Sergeant Victor Cass, 54, retired on June 29, after more than thirty years serving the community as a member of the Pasadena Police Department, most recently as supervisor of the Department’s Community Relations Section.

By News Desk

Sergeant Cass gained much of his media reputation while a Detective (2017-21), where his high-profile cases busting such criminals as the “Office Creeper,” “Glass Man Burglar,” and “Tire Toe Bandit,” culminated with his investigation and arrest of Paul G. Gonzales, the infamous “Dine and Dash Dater,” a controversial case that garnered national and even international headlines.

Sergeant Cass joined the Pasadena Police Department in 1992, after being an advertising art director in New York City. Cass had a storied and colorful career with the PPD, serving five tours as a Patrol cop, including two years a Field Training Officer (FTO) training new rookies, and as a Patrol Sergeant. Cass also served two tours in the Detective Bureau, the Community Relations Section, and a tour in the Villa Parke Community Policing Project as well as working nearly five years on the Homeless Outreach / Psychiatric Evaluation (HOPE) Team, the Department’s mental health crisis unit.

While a member of the HOPE Team, Cass founded the Pasadena Mental Health Advisory Committee (PMHAC) and served as its first Chairman (2008-11). Cass also founded and led the first Pasadena Mental Health Day. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) awarded Cass the 2010 NAMI California Outstanding Criminal Justice Professional Award, the first and only police officer to receive the honor. Cass later served as the Vice President of Public Education on the NAMI-San Gabriel Valley Board of Directors (2013), and two terms as President of NAMI-SGV (2014-15).

During his time as a cop, Cass was also a prolific author, having written and published four books, including three novels and the nonfiction Pasadena Police Department: A Photohistory, 1877-2000.

Sergeant Cass was raised in Pasadena, where he graduated from John Muir High School. He received his BFA with Honors from the ArtCenter in Pasadena, and his MA in Military Studies-Land Warfare from American Military University in Manassas Park, VA. He graduated from the Rio Hondo Police Academy in January 1993. Cass is an Eagle Scout from Pasadena’s historic Troop 4 and has an adult daughter who recently graduated from the University of San Francisco.