Always My Hero!

This weekend, I found out I lost one of my true-life idols – Gary Glen Mulleneaux. “Sarge” was one of my many sergeants I had while serving on the Phoenix Police Department, and he was every bit a “man’s man”.

His daughters called him “Superman” right up until the day he passed away.

Gary was 75 years old.

Gary Glen Mulleneaux of San Tan Valley, Arizona, was born in Glendale, California where they grew up until his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated from Maryvale High School in 1965, where he enjoyed playing football, baseball, and wrestling. He served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the British South Mission from 1966 to 1968. Upon his return to Phoenix in 1968, he joined the Phoenix Police Department.

Gary was one of the original members of the "Arizona W’s", a semi-professional softball team. Gary hit with power and could play defense as well as anyone. Gary was diagnosed with colon cancer during his playing days and despite the fact the doctors gave him a short time to live he continued to play.

He was instrumental in leading the W’s to a national title in the 1980’s.

He loved sports and played softball for many years. In 1978, he co-founded the Arizona Police Olympics and Arizona Police Athletic Association with Roger Larm. Gary served as the President of the International Police Olympics and traveled the world promoting police sporting events until 1988. He was later elected to The Police Softball Hall of Fame, one of his proudest moments.

Mind you- this was fast-pitch, men’s softball- not the beer leagues I played in. I hit one homer in my career, and it was on the first pitch of the first at-bat of the first game I played in a semi-organized league. Probably 280-300 feet. Pure luck.

But Gary- he was the REAL deal. He could hit a country mile. Gary was forced to play in tournaments where each team had to pick two players on the opposition team, so if they hit a home run, it would be an “out”.? He hit so many that his name was always chosen. Instead, he would bounce them off the fence and try for doubles and triples.

One night, working out together in our little precinct gym, Gary and I had a long talk, and he shared his story of fighting cancer. This was in the days when chemo made you sicker than the actual disease. He remembered how ungodly painful it was, even laying down and not moving. He said he talked to God and gave him “permission” to take him Home, because he didn’t think he could ever survive another 24-hours of the suffering.

It was Father’s Day.

Somehow, graciously, he passed out. When he came to, he felt a little less pain. As the days progressed, he got less sick, and his recovery from the chemo treatments came a little faster each time.

He was a tremendous leader of fellow policemen and women, and to this day, we all admired, loved, and respected him so much. He was tough, funny, empathetic - and a great police officer and investigator himself.

Indulge me one quick story about his supernatural “powers”, if you please.

I made an arrest on a big, strong, tough, formerly incarcerated "convict", who apparently didn't learn his lesson from the previous 12 years in the joint. He was cool with me- and didn't run his mouth until AFTER I got the handcuffs on him. The whole ride back to the station, he was giving me ALL sorts of lip; I was at the physical size where I could hold my own, but not big enough to intimidate these ex-cons. They always wanted to "test the waters."

I bring him in, and he’s still making a racket- threatening me, my family (that I didn’t yet have), and every other cop that walked by.

I placed him in a holding cell and removed his cuffs, and - like clockwork - he began cursing up a storm, kicking the door, and just making a nuisance of himself.

Then, Sgt. Mulleneaux walked in.

Six-foot-plus, a solid 240, barrel chested, thick, muscular arms, Popeye forearms, and strong wrists and hands.

Silence- except from the prisoner.

Not because Sarge scared us- oh, no. He was Clint Eastwood and John Wayne all wrapped up in one very cool package.

We fell silent because we all watched to see what was about to happen, or, at least, assumed at what COULD happen.

Sure enough, the prisoner screams at Gary as he walks by, and gives the metal door a solid kick from the inside.

Gary immediately stopped in his tracks. He turns to us officers in the bullpen writing reports and booking evidence.

“Whose prisoner is that?”

I sheepishly raised my hand.

“Mine, sir; a 245 (aggravated assault) suspect.”

Gary responds.

“Mind if I say hello?”

I smiled- broadly.

“Go right ahead.”

This jackalope continues to shout, scream, and curse to the heavens -

“F- you! Y’all a bunch of p***ies. I’ll kill each one of you- AND f*** yo’ Mama!”

Meanwhile, Gary fetches the key, unlocks the holding cell, steps inside and closes the door behind him. The key was IN the door, and Gary could NOT come out unless we let him out.

I got up from my chair and stood by, waiting for him to knock when he was ready to come out. The door is solid, with a small window that you really can’t see through as there were no lights in the cells. There wasn't really any ROOM for two people, let alone two people of their respective muscularity.

I tried intently to hear what Gary might be saying, but he spoke barely above a whisper.

The prisoner? Never heard a peep from the bad guy.

After about a minute, Gary knocks on the door, and I let him out. Sarge says;

“He won’t be any more trouble”.

... and he wasn’t. I wrote paper for another half-hour, drove the prisoner downtown to county jail, and he never uttered another sound. He was nothing short of polite at the jail, where they tend to get REALLY riled up, faced with the fact that "we" weren't kidding, when we said he was under arrest!

Later, I tracked down Sgt. Mulleneaux and I thanked him, but I was also dying of curiosity. I had to know what his secret was to get big, strong angry men to calm down so quickly and quietly, never to be a problem again.

“Exactly what did you say to him, boss?”

He smiled, patted me on the shoulder, and said;

“Remind me when you’re a little older, and I’ll tell you”.

Always the charmer… and always my hero.

Gary retired from the Phoenix Police Department as the sergeant of the Motor Squad in 1988, after 20 years of policing and leadership. He then moved his family to Rochester, Minnesota, in 1994, and worked for the Rochester Police Department as the Communications Manager for another 22 years; 42 years total dedicated to serving his community.

Gary and Connie moved back to Arizona in 2018.

Rest in Peace, my friend. I love you and will always miss you.

WRITER'S BIO: Mr. Scala spent 24-plus years in the Hollywood community and was the Executive Director for the?72nd Annual Academy Awards,?as well as The Soul Train Awards,?The Grammys,?The Blockbuster Video Awards Show?and?The Saturn Award Show.

Geno has three produced feature films: "Assassin 33 A.D.",?"Black Easter"?and?"The Tombs". All are currently available on Amazon Prime and Tubi. While working on a project scheduled to be filmed in the spring - starring Liam Hemsworth and Samuel L. Jackson - he continues to mentor new writers and self-published authors.

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