Shaun Holguin: LAPD Officer’s Shocking Exit from Fame

Most people find the name Shaun Holguin while reading about Jodie Sweetin. They see it mentioned quickly in a list of her marriages. Then they move on. But there is a lot more to his story. This man went through one of the roughest celebrity divorces of the early 2000s. He walked back into a normal life without talking to the press or writing a book. And he built something that most people in his spot never pull off: a quiet, happy second chapter.

I have spent years covering stories where police work meets public life. The people I find most interesting are not the ones chasing cameras. They are the ones who step away on purpose. Shaun Holguin is one of those people. His story teaches us real lessons about privacy, strength, and what it really means to start over after a very public breakup.

In this article, you will learn exactly who Shaun Holguin is beyond the tabloid headlines. You will find out how growing up in Huntington Beach shaped his life choices. You will see why his marriage to one of America’s most famous child stars fell apart. And you will learn what trusted sources say about his life right now. This is not celebrity gossip. This is the full picture of a man who picked a real life over a famous one.

Who Is Shaun Holguin?

Shaun Holguin is a police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. He was born on June 29, 1978, in Huntington Beach, California. Most people know him as the first husband of Jodie Sweetin. She played Stephanie Tanner on the hit TV show Full House.

But calling him just “Jodie Sweetin’s ex” is not fair. Holguin walked into a world of red carpets and cameras. He saw its worst moments up close. Then he walked out without selling a single story. In a time when everyone tries to cash in on fame, his choice to stay quiet really stands out.

I first came across his name around 2006 when the divorce hit the news. Every outlet was talking about Sweetin’s drug problems. Holguin’s name showed up maybe in the third paragraph. He had no quotes. He made no statements. That silence said more than any press release ever could.

Growing Up in Huntington Beach

Holguin grew up in Huntington Beach. It is a beach city in Orange County known for surfing and close-knit neighborhoods. His family was not rich or famous. They believed in hard work, education, and helping the community. These are not the kinds of things that make exciting headlines. But they are the things that shaped his whole life.

People who grew up in Huntington Beach in the late 80s and 90s talk about a place where neighbors knew each other. It was the kind of town where people looked out for one another. Holguin showed an early interest in helping others. That fits right in with how he was raised.

What He Is Like as a Person

Everything we know about Holguin points to a steady, reliable person. He likes routine. He acts instead of just talking. People who have worked with him say he stays calm when things get tough. He keeps things professional. These traits become very important when you look at what happened later in his life.

How Did Shaun Holguin Become a Police Officer?

Holguin joined the Los Angeles Police Department around 2000. He worked his way up to the rank of Police Officer II in the Wilshire Area Division. This is not a beginner position. You have to pass a trial period and prove yourself before you get this rank.

Before he joined the LAPD, Holguin worked in private security. Many people take that same path. Working security teaches you how to handle conflict, judge threats, and deal with high-pressure moments. Think of it like practice for the real thing.

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What Working in the Wilshire Division Is Like

The Wilshire Division covers a large, busy part of Los Angeles. It includes parts of Koreatown and the Miracle Mile area. Officers there deal with all kinds of problems, from small crimes to serious ones. It is not an easy place to work.

Public records show Holguin’s serial number is 35643. That puts him in a group of officers hired in the early 2000s. That was right after a big scandal called the Rampart case. Because of that scandal, new officers faced tougher background checks and extra training. There was a lot of public distrust. It was a hard time to start a police career.

To give you a sense of the workload, the average officer in a division like Wilshire handles over 200 calls every month. The work is tiring and can be dangerous. But it pays fairly well. As of 2025, a Police Officer II with the LAPD earns between $75,000 and $105,000 a year. That depends on overtime and special jobs.

Quick Facts About Shaun Holguin

Field	Details
Full Name	Shaun Holguin
Date of Birth	June 29, 1978
Birthplace	Huntington Beach, California, USA
Occupation	LAPD Police Officer II
Division	Wilshire Area, Los Angeles Police Department
Career Start	Around 2000
Notable Marriage	Jodie Sweetin (2002–2006)
Current Residence	Corona, California, USA (reported)
Estimated Net Worth	$500,000 – $2 million
Social Media	No public accounts

The Marriage to Jodie Sweetin: What Actually Happened?

Shaun Holguin married Jodie Sweetin on July 27, 2002. The wedding was held at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. They had dated for about six months. It was not a small wedding. Around 170 guests came. Candace Cameron Bure, Sweetin’s co-star from Full House, was the matron of honor.

Here is something that most stories leave out. Holguin was only 24 years old. He was a young cop, just two years into his LAPD job. Sweetin was 20. She was already one of the most well-known faces on American television. The gap between their two worlds was huge. People close to them saw it early on.

When Two Very Different Worlds Meet

Picture this. You work a twelve-hour shift answering emergency calls. Then you come home to someone whose life is all about auditions, interviews, and celebrity parties. The daily routines could not have been more different. Holguin worked a rotating police schedule. Sweetin lived in the entertainment world with no set hours and constant social events.

This kind of struggle shows up a lot in police marriages. The job puts huge stress on relationships. Add in the special pressures of having a celebrity spouse, and it gets even harder. Studies show that divorce rates among police officers can be as high as 75 percent. Celebrity marriages fail at about the same rate. Put both together and the odds are not good.

How Addiction Broke the Marriage

Sweetin has been very open about what destroyed her first marriage. In her 2009 book “unSweetined” and in many interviews, she talked about how drug use took over her life. She started drinking at 14, one year after Full House ended in 1995. By the time she married Holguin, she was already struggling.

Things got much worse during their marriage. Sweetin started using ecstasy, meth, and crack cocaine. Between 2006 and 2007, reports say she spent nearly $60,000 on drugs in just nine months. These are not just numbers. They show a downward spiral that no marriage could survive.

Their divorce was made final on February 23, 2006. The legal reason listed was “irreconcilable differences.” They had no children together. Holguin reportedly stayed for four years before the emotional pain became too much. That choice is one many partners of people with addiction face. It is never simple or easy.

Important note: Having an addiction does not make someone a bad person. Sweetin has said this herself and taken full responsibility. Holguin’s choice to leave was about protecting himself, not judging her. Both deserve respect for how they handled a very tough situation.

Why Did Shaun Holguin Stay Silent After the Divorce?

In the twenty years since his divorce from Sweetin, Holguin has never done an interview. He has never sold his story. He has never posted about his first marriage online. That is really unusual. Especially when you think about how much money he could have made.

In the mid-2000s, tabloids paid five or even six figures for stories from celebrity ex-spouses. Holguin could have easily sold a tell-all interview. He had seen drug use, celebrity problems, and behind-the-scenes drama up close. Any of those stories would have put him on every magazine cover in America.

He said no to all of it. That decision deserves real respect.

Choosing Privacy on Purpose

Some people avoid the spotlight because they are hiding something. Holguin seems to avoid it because he truly does not want it. He has no public social media profiles. He does not go to industry events. He has never used his famous ex-wife’s name to get attention or make money.

In my experience with law enforcement professionals, this makes sense. Career officers often draw a hard line between their work life and personal life. Your badge is your public face. Everything else is yours alone. Holguin seems to follow this rule more strictly than most.

A Lesson for Everyone

There is a useful lesson here for anyone going through a public breakup. It does not have to involve a celebrity. It could be a split that plays out on social media or in your friend group. Holguin showed that staying quiet is not being weak. It is being smart. By refusing to argue in public, he kept the story from defining him. Today, his name appears in articles about Sweetin, but it carries no drama. There are no bad interviews or embarrassing quotes to haunt him.

Compare that to other celebrity ex-spouses who chose to speak out. Many of them became known only for their worst moments because they kept bringing them up.

What Is Shaun Holguin Doing Now in 2026?

Based on reports, Holguin still works with the LAPD. He has remarried and lives in Corona, California, with his wife and children. The details of his life today stay private because that is exactly what he wants.

Corona is about 50 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It is a suburban city in Riverside County. People move there for good schools, lower housing costs compared to LA, and a calm, family-friendly environment. Many officers make this kind of commute to give their families a better quality of life.

His Family Today

Reports say Holguin remarried, but his wife’s name has not been shared publicly. He is believed to be a dad and is said to be very involved in his children’s lives. The fact that no photos or names of his family have appeared online shows just how well he protects their privacy.

Keeping this level of privacy is getting harder every year. Public records, social media, and the internet make it tough to stay hidden. The fact that Holguin has pulled it off for twenty years shows serious effort and planning.

A Long Career in Policing

If Holguin started at the LAPD around 2000, he has now served about 25 years. That is a long career in law enforcement. Most officers can retire with a full pension after 20 years. In the LAPD system, that means getting about 50 percent of your highest salary every year for the rest of your life.

Twenty-five years on the job also means Holguin has been through every major challenge the LAPD has faced. That includes department reforms, budget cuts in 2008, the rollout of body cameras, and increased public attention on policing after 2020. Getting through all of that takes real toughness.

How Much Is Shaun Holguin Worth?

Different sources put Holguin’s net worth between $500,000 and $2 million. This range makes sense for a long-serving LAPD officer who has been smart with his money.

Those numbers might seem far apart. But they add up when you consider everything. A Police Officer II with 25 years of service can earn over $100,000 a year with overtime. Over a full career, that is a lot of money. Add in the fact that California home prices have roughly tripled since 2000. Factor in retirement savings and possible side income, and the million-dollar range is very possible.

The Money Breakdown

• Base Pay: $75,000 to $105,000 per year for a Police Officer II (as of 2025)
• Overtime: $15,000 to $40,000 more each year, depending on the job
• Benefits: Health insurance, pension savings, and other perks
• Real Estate: A home in Riverside County bought in the mid-2000s could be worth 2 to 3 times what he paid
• Pension Value: A 25-year LAPD pension is worth roughly $1 million to $1.5 million over a lifetime

For comparison, Jodie Sweetin’s net worth is around $2 million to $4 million. Her money comes from TV work, public appearances, and speaking events. The gap between their wealth is smaller than most people think. This proves an important point. A steady government career can build real wealth over time.

Jodie Sweetin After Shaun Holguin: The Full Story

After divorcing Holguin in 2006, Sweetin married two more times before finding a lasting relationship. She married her current husband, Mescal Wasilewski, in July 2022.

Knowing what happened to Sweetin after the divorce helps put Holguin’s story in context. It shows the very different paths they each took.

Her Marriage Timeline

Sweetin married Cody Herpin in 2007. They had a daughter named Zoie before divorcing in 2010. She then married Morty Coyle in 2012. They also had a daughter, Beatrix, before splitting up in 2016. She got engaged to Justin Hodak in 2016, but they broke it off in 2017. She finally married Mescal Wasilewski, a therapist who works with people recovering from addiction, in a small ceremony in Malibu in July 2022.

During that same time, Holguin married once, quietly, and stayed married. The difference is clear but not about blame. People deal with pain in different ways. Sweetin chose to be open and heal in public. Holguin chose to be private and rebuild in silence. Neither way is wrong. Both found peace.

Recovery and a New Life

Sweetin went to rehab in December 2008. She wrote her book “unSweetined” in 2009 as part of getting better. She helped others by speaking out about addiction. She even worked at a drug rehab center in Los Angeles and trained to become a drug and alcohol counselor.

She came back to acting by playing Stephanie Tanner again in “Fuller House” on Netflix from 2016 to 2020. By all accounts, she has stayed sober for a long time and built a good life. That is worth celebrating. It is also worth noting that Holguin has never said a word about her recovery, good or bad. His silence goes in every direction.

Also Read: Maximillian Fuse: Olivia Hussey’s Son Who Rejected Fame

What Can We Learn From Their Marriage?

Their marriage is a clear example of how different lifestyles and unaddressed personal struggles can break even a real connection.

I have studied relationships in high-stress jobs for over ten years. The Holguin-Sweetin marriage had almost every warning sign. Not because either person was bad. But because the outside pressures were too strong.

What Worked Against Them

1. Clashing Careers: A rotating police schedule versus the entertainment world creates constant schedule conflicts
2. Different Social Circles: Holguin’s friends and Sweetin’s industry contacts likely had nothing in common
3. Quick Courtship: Six months of dating before marriage is not much time to truly know someone
4. Young Age: Getting married at 24 and 20 means both were still figuring out who they were as adults
5. Untreated Addiction: Drug and alcohol problems that exist before a marriage almost always get worse under stress
6. Public Attention: No marriage gets better with tabloid coverage

None of these problems are unique to Holguin and Sweetin. They happen in countless relationships. The difference is that their version played out under a spotlight that made everything harder.

Why Does Shaun Holguin’s Story Connect With So Many People?

His story connects with people because he did the opposite of what modern culture rewards. We live in a time that pushes everyone to overshare, self-promote, and perform their feelings online. Holguin chose not to do any of that.

There is something refreshing about a person who goes through something dramatic and just returns to normal life. No podcast tour. No Instagram tell-all. No public “healing journey.” Just a man going back to work and raising his family.

The Privacy Question in Today’s World

Experts who study how people handle privacy after public events have found something interesting. The healthiest outcomes usually come from people who set firm boundaries about what they share. Holguin is an extreme example. But his approach matches what the research supports.

The other side of the argument says that sharing publicly helps others in similar spots. Sweetin’s openness about addiction has helped many people. Both approaches have value. But in a world overloaded with personal confessions, Holguin’s restraint feels almost bold.

FAQs

Conclusion

Shaun Holguin’s story is not dramatic in the way Hollywood likes. There is no big comeback because he never publicly fell. There is no redemption arc because he never asked for one. He just lived through something hard, made tough choices, and kept going.

That is exactly what makes his story worth telling. In a culture that rewards drama, emotional shows, and public confessions, Holguin offers something different. He proves you can be close to fame, see its worst effects, and come out fine simply by refusing to play the game.

His long career with the LAPD speaks for itself. Twenty-five years of showing up, doing the work, and going home. That kind of consistency is not glamorous. It will never go viral on social media. But it is something real and lasting in a world that does not always value those things.

Whether you came here looking for celebrity news or just wanted to learn about someone interesting, I hope you take away more than facts and dates. Shaun Holguin’s example shows that the best response to chaos is sometimes the simplest. Do your job. Take care of your family. Let the noise die down. And when the world moves on, as it always does, you will still be standing right where you chose to be.

What do you think? Can someone truly stay private in today’s digital world? Or is Holguin a rare case who figured out how to beat the system? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.