How did a former major leaguer get away with assaulting a minor
Four witnesses and video evidence showed that in April 2021, Mark Grudzielanek assaulted a teenager, but he was never charged.
On March 6, 2021, former Major League Baseball player Mark Grudzielanek allegedly assaulted a teenager.
The aftermath was caught on video and leaked.
Grudzielanek is accused of spraying vinegar into the eyes of the minor and he can be heard taunting him, saying, “if he wants to play, we’ll play.”
Grudzielanek did not respond to a call on his cell phone, but I did speak briefly to him in 2021, shortly after the incident.
Grudzielanek denied assaulting the minor, and claimed the video did not show what it clearly showed.
This was no ordinary minor. This was the son of another major league ball player, David Segui, Grudzielanek’s sometimes teammate and other times opponent.
The backdrop to the assault was that at the time Grudzielanek’s fiancé, Donna Moniz, had recently gotten sole custody of her two children with Segui.
Segui was accused of parental alienation, and his kids were forced into the notorious Family Bridges reunification therapy which is now illegal in Arizona under SB 1372.
TMZ first broke the story in 2021 that Grudzielanek was under investigation for child abuse, and several other outlets piggybacked off that story.
There was no follow up beyond that initial story.
The investigation was done quietly, and Grudzielanek was never charged.
An analysis of statements from police and prosecutors along with never-before-seen police interviews suggest that Grudzielanek- due to his fame or some other reason- was given special treatment. Though there was very strong evidence of assault, multiple prosecuting agencies refused to charge him.
The Scottsdale Police investigated the incident and concluded there was enough evidence to charge. They referred it to two prosecutor’s office, and both declined to charge. Here is the statement the Scottsdale Police gave me.
The original incident occurred on March 16, 2021. A report was taken by the responding officers that was reviewed by a Domestic Violence Unit detective. Criminal charges were submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for a charging decision in March of 2021.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the submitted charges in mid-April of 2021. The case was then sent to the Scottsdale City Prosecutor’s Office in late April of 2021. That charging recommendation was declined by the Scottsdale City Prosecutor.
The case against Mark Grudzielanek for DR 21-05175 is no longer an active case or being prosecuted by the county attorney or city prosecutor. For context, police in AZ do not charge suspects with crimes. Suspects of crimes may be arrested and booked by police. Police then refer recommended charges to a prosecutor via a charging document such as a criminal citation or long-form submittal. Formal charging decisions are made by a prosecutor.
The Scottsdale Police Department investigates crimes professionally and fairly based on the available evidence and information known to investigators at the time, without the benefit of hindsight. I have not seen any information suggesting the investigation was influenced by anyone directly or indirectly involved with the case.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office- their equivalent to a District Attorney- told me they referred the case to the City of Scottsdale.
The case against Mark Grudzielanek was referred for prosecution by the City of Scottsdale in April 2021.
I suggest you reach out to that office for further information on the case.
Referring to other jurisdictions, based on the case submitted, is something that happens often.
That office provided further clarification on why something like this would happen.
The City of Scottsdale did not respond to an email for comment and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office did not provide any further clarification as to why they would need or want to transfer this case.
When Scottsdale PD referred the case for prosecution, they presented more than enough evidence to prosecute.
Not only did they have the video, but there were multiple statements from eyewitnesses saying unequivocally that Grudzielanek did assault the minor.
There were five people in the home on March 6, 2021, and according to statements made to police, Grudzielanek was the only one to say he did not commit assault.
There were four other witnesses- Donna, the two boys, and a woman staying in the home- and all said Grudzielanek held the younger Segui boy down and sprayed vinegar in his eye. That description would amount to assault.
Why was Grudzielanek not charged? Was it his celebrity status? It could be, but there may be something even more sinister at play.
This incident occurred a couple months after Brock and Shai Segui were ordered by Maricopa Judge Brad Astrowsky to first go to Family Bridges and live full time with their mother who they accused of sexual assault. They were also barred from seeing their father at all.
I reached out to Donna and her then divorce attorney, Gregg Woodnick, but neither responded to emails for comment.
This was a Mengeleesque experiment as both Brock and Shai made it clear that they wanted to live with their father.
Furthermore, not only was Donna accused of sexual abuse, but Grudzielanek has his own checkered past with physical violence.
In 2000, he got into a bar fight, and there is a police report claiming he beat up his then girlfriend.
Meanwhile, even as Grudzielanek and Moniz were given sole custody of Shai and Brock, a California court was ordering both of them to have no contact with Mark’s children, as the Daily Mail recently reported.
Grudzielanek has not seen his own children in seven years and a California court forbade him and Moniz from contacting his two sons.
All of this is a recipe for disaster, and so, it’s no surprise that the reports the court received painted a happy family with Mark, Donna and the two boys. The only problem was David Segui, who wasn’t allowed to see his sons.
“The relationship between mother and the boys appears to be stable, respectful and positive.” A report from the therapeutic interventionist from August 31, 2022, noted.
The report continued, “Overall, the children are typically well-behaved, have a cordial and positive relationship with mother and have no behavioral or emotional challenged, and have been respectful of mother.”
That therapeutic interventionist is Heidi Quinlan, and she did not respond to an email for comment.
Despite her happy talk, she took over the case from another therapeutic interventionist, Diana Vigil, who asked off the case. Vigil produced her own report on March 3, 2021.
It is this TI’s sole hypotheses is that Father is having contact with the children. Father continues to engage in severe alienation of the children by not following the Court’s no contact orders and attend aftercare. Father’s behavior is severe alienation and emotionally abusive.2 It is clear the boys know how Father feels about Mother and they are told to reject her. Until this changes, the boys will not be able to integrate their family and share their time and affection with both parents;
After the boys are calm, they tell their Mother they are sad, angry and hurt their Father won’t participate in the Aftercare program so they can begin seeing him. Then the cycle starts again; the boys have with contact with Father, they act out, they engage the press, police or DCS, they are conciliatory and move emotionally/physically close to their Mother for the love, protection, and nurturing the crave. This TI has grave concerns for the boys’ emotional well-being and that their destructive acting-out behaviors and false reports to law enforcement will likely end up in delinquency issues;
Vigil also did not respond to an email for comment.
Even Grudzielanek, in his interview, described a nightmare situation, far beyond any supposed alienation issues.
“Um, she’s been going through a custody battle with her for the last five years- maybe longer. And it is- been a very, very gruesome and- and ugly situation. She recently got 100% custody of these kids probably three months ago, and they have been really tough to deal with throughout the time.” Grudzielanek said. “Um, so with that said, the situation, uh, it’s happened many times before where they’ve been ugly, mouthing. Uh, um, I just bought that house, uh, moved in a few weeks ago, and disrespected the house, many times with- without me doing or saying anything and trying to be, you know, um, understanding to the situation. But again, it’s been three months. It’s going through, this, uh, repeated, uh, mouthing. F-words, uh, disrespecting their mother, and it- it has a very tough situation to say the least.”
Not exactly the cordial, respectful, and stable relationship that Quinlan described.
Besides Vigil and Quinlan, more than ten people were appointed to this case, including the notorious Stephanie Stromfors as the best interest attorney.
Stromfors also forced Tori Nielsen to attend Family Bridges.
Stromfors may also have been having an affair with Judge Astrowsky.
Stromfors did not respond to an email for comment.
This incident represented an existential threat to the narrative the court created. This was a happy family, except for the father not allowed contact who was messing everything up.
This assault obliterated that narrative. That may be why charges were never filed.
As it is, the narrative was obliterated anyway.
Earlier this year, David Segui did an interview with Robert Hansen for an article on Newsbreak.
He said it took about two years to get custody back, but since, the boys have little to no contact with their mother, who they continue to accuse of sexual abuse.
Shai has expressed anger over several physical altercations wherein Shai or Brock were hit by his mom or her guests at home or school.
Shai felt intense shame in himself and rage against his mother when describing his memories of co-sleeping naked with his mother until about age 10, according to court documents.
Segui told Hansen that he continued speaking out until the court was forced to give him back custody.
Segui said he was successful where others have not been because of his willingness to call out the courts.
“I say the things in court that other parents are scared to say,” Segui said.
He said other parents, reasonably, give in to the threats of jail or losing their children.
“You fight, you do not comply or give in to their threats,” is Segui’s advice to others experiencing similar problems.
Now, all the secrets of this custody are coming out. Earlier this month, the Daily Mail reported that Shai Segui, now 18, had filed his intention to sue Randy Rand, the head of Family Bridges, and others.
The son of former Major League Baseball player David Segui is taking steps for possible legal action against the state of Arizona - for forcing him into counseling with his mother that he accused of abuse.
Shai Segui, 18, submitted a notice of claim - a move which precedes a lawsuit - and alleged that he suffered $30 million in damages after the Maricopa County Superior Court ordered him and his brother to attend a family reunification camp in California.
Mark Grudzielanek may not have gotten away with murder, but he definitely got away with assault.
UPDATE:
After the article was released, I received this statement from the City of Scottsdale.
The case was reviewed and based on the totality of the evidence, the prosecutor concluded there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction and therefore no charges were filed.
With four eyewitnesses and a video, I find it hard to believe that this couldn’t reach a guilty verdict.