In the late 1980s, “Miami Vice” was the hottest TV show on air and young deputy Cliff Hargrave became a narcotics officer in the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. The swagger of being an undercover cop wore off when all of a sudden Hargrave found out his boss was being investigated by the FBI for dealing narcotics.
“It’s hard to even explain” the feelings he had, Hargrave said about the federal investigation of Orange County Sheriff James Wade in 1988. “It just about made me want to quit, but I had just gotten married,” he said.
Hargrave stuck with his law enforcement career for another 28 years. Thursday, he retired from the Orange Police Department where he worked for 25 years. His last position was captain in charge of detectives.
He hasn’t stopped working, though. Now he’s a small business owner. Earlier this month, he opened Team Cliffjitsu on Green Avenue, a studio where he teaches Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts. He has taught for a number of years, including karate classes at the old Thomen Community Center in Orange.
Some of his students compete in the martial arts, but that’s not the intentions of Hargrave’s classes. “I like teaching regular people so they have confidence and they can protect themselves,” he said.
Hargrave grew up in Bridge City, where he graduated from high school in 1984. He studied at Lamar University the fall after his graduation, but in the spring decided to become a peace officer. His older brother, Joey Hargrave, was already an officer with the Bridge City Police Department.
Cliff Hargrave started the Lamar Police Academy in January 1985. He got a job in April as a jailer with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff James Wade, who had beaten an incumbent to become sheriff that year.
In those days, the traditional path for a professional law officer in Orange County was to begin as a jailer and work their way up the ranks.
Hargrave did that. He became a patrol officer and a detective. In January 1988, he was made an undercover narcotics detective. “I grew my first ever beard. In those days the narcotics officers had beards,” he recalled.
He also got married in February 1988 to Sally Adams, whose father had served as chief deputy for Wade’s predecessor. Sally made him shave his beard for the wedding.
But it was also in February 1988 that federal documents were filed detailing allegations of Wade being involved in selling methamphetamine and other drugs. He and others were worried. One day, a dozen or so FBI agents had a search warrant did a ‘drug raid’ on the sheriff’s office.
Hargrave recalls that the chief deputy and Captain Tommy Hennigan told the FBI agents to trust him and Jessie Romero. (Romero went on to become assistant police chief of West Orange.) Hargrave and Romero helped the federal agents search and inventory the evidence rooms at the sheriff’s office.
Wade ended up going to federal prison after a jury convicted him of several charges.
“The first chance I got, I went back to patrol,” Hargrave said.
In 1991, he got a job at the Orange Police Department and started on patrol. For the next 25 years, he worked different positions and jobs. His favorite job was “the last five years as detective captain,” he said. “I got to be a part of all kinds of things, a wide variety.”
He and his wife, Sally, still live in Bridge City. Their oldest daughter, Morgan Sanchez, is the mother of 1-year-old Chandler, Hargrave’s only grandchild. The Hargraves’ youngest daughter, Samantha, is a junior at Bridge City High School.
Hargrave’s mother, Annie, has worked for many years from 6 a.m. to noon at the Bridge City Market Basket. Hargrave went by to see her every morning before he went to the Orange police station. “I’m going to have to make sure I wake up to go see her every morning,” he said about his retirement from police work.
Team Cliffjitsu offers a variety of classes for all ages. And can be reached at 409-221-8931.
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