Fired 'Bondage Porno' cop wants cuffs back

A former Hollywood cop who appeared in a gay bondage porno long before he was patting down perps wants his job back.

Michael Verdugo, 35, is filing a civil lawsuit against the Hollywood Police Department, claiming he was fired in January of last year for being openly gay, according to the Miami Herald.

In 1996, Verdugo, then 22, was in a 15-minute scene in "Rope Rituals." Though he didn't do any hardcore sex scenes, he appeared naked and shackled.

"It was all role-playing bondage. I was tied," Verdugo told the Herald. "I used handcuffs later on in my career."

A Lauderhill cop in 1999, Verdugo joined the Hollywood force in 2001. In 2008, he appeared on HGTV's Design Star as Mikey V. When the Rope Rituals tape surfaced that year, Verdugo lost his cop job and spot on Design Star.

"I don't regret it," said Verdugo of his brief porn career. "It was a time in my life that I wanted to explore."

Now Verdugo is suing for wrongful termination and discrimination, claiming he got the ax because he's openly gay.

Not so, said Hollywood Police, who claim Verdugo left the porno appearance off his application.

"This had nothing to do with Mike Verdugo's sexuality. It had to do with his honesty. The application process to become a police officer is very arduous," Hollywood spokeswoman Raelin Storey said.

In the meantime, Verdugo isn't doing too bad, he runs his own interior design company and another that remodels homes, both in South Florida. But Verduro wants to rejoin the boys in blue and possibly help other cops who might want to come out.

"They don't want to come out because they see what happened to me. It's a double-edge sword," Verdugo said. “Discrimination is still huge in the police community. It's just huge."

(Via NBC Miami)