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A West Hollywood man says his ex-husband confronted him in his home with an ice pick, and has accused the sheriff's department of discrimination in their handling of the case.
Larry Workman told WEHOville that he was threatened by his ex, Randy Tullis, in his Hancock Avenue home around midnight, roughly two weeks ago. Workman claimed that he encountered a hooded figure carrying an ice pick in his hallway and began screaming. The intruder then slowly walked out of the home. As he exited, the intruder reportedly threatened one neighbor—claiming that he would "hurt her"—and another neighbor who Workman has been dating with the ice pick, saying, "You stole my husband." Workman and Tullis had been partners for 20 years, but are now divorced. Workman said he also found dark red paint sprayed across the front door of his home. According to Workman, the incident is the latest in a series of threats from his ex.
After reporting the incident to the West Hollywood Sheriff's Department, Workman told WEHOville that deputies made no effort to search for Tullis in the neighborhood that night. Tullis, however, was eventually arrested and charged with felony vandalism, and later released on $20,000 bail. Workman claimed that convincing the Sheriff's Department to follow up on the case required considerable persistence on his part. He suggested that the challenge stems from deputies treating his reports differently because it involves two gay men. "There is established social homophobia that says two men are different than a man and a woman," Workman told WEHOville. "That's true. But it doesn't make my needs and my rights less important to be protected." He went on to say, "I have said to them on multiple occasions that I don't want to have to be in a body bag to prove I'm right."
Reached for comment, Lt. William Nash of the West Hollywood Sheriff's Department told LAist, "We investigate all crimes thoroughly. We don't change how we investigate the crime no matter who is involved, and we are handling this case just as we would all cases. It doesn't matter what orientation the particular individual may be."
Nash said that he spoke with Workman in person this morning, but that he did not mention any issues of discrimination or homophobia. "When I was speaking with him that issue never came up and the conversation was quite pleasant," Nash told LAist. "We explained our procedures for the investigation and he appeared to be pleased with how we were handling it."
Detective Catherine Castro has been assigned to the case and Nash said that they are currently investigating the incident.
