In the 5½ years since his last haircut, Sean Salazar got married.
He became a father — twice.
Also during that time, Salazar — his mid ’70s-era, Gregg Allman-style blond mane flowing — helped put drug dealers and other bad guys in jail working undercover for the Garden Grove PD.
So convincingly did Salazar look the part of a drug-addled lowlife that even cops from other agencies had trouble believing he was a police officer.
“You’re the best undercover cop I’ve ever seen,” an Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy told Salazar recently.
The deputy initially had pulled Salazar out of the security line at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana because he looked suspicious.
And over the last 5 ½ years, when Salazar and his wife, Rachel, would go out together — say, on a dinner date — they regularly would overhear people whispering why she was with such a dubiously groomed guy.
“It became a running joke with us,” Salazar said with a laugh.
It also became awkward when the Salazars’ teen daughter wanted to have a friend sleep over.
“The parents were OK with it after we explained to them what his job was,” Rachel said.
On Wednesday, Jan. 15, Salazar walked into Lux Aveda Salon/Spa in Fullerton to get a haircut — routine for most folks, but for Salazar, 38, a major life event.
His new assignment as a clean-cut, uniformed patrol officer was starting in three days.
“I feel like I’m going to a funeral,” the affable corporal said when he walked into the salon.
Salazar’s wife, 32, and three children — Madison, 14, Cash, 4, and Makayla, 1½, — were there for moral support. The young ones also were there so they wouldn’t freak out seeing their dad surprise them by showing up at home freshly shorn.
Also with Salazar were four other undercover cops and the team’s sergeant to witness what one called the “rebirth” of Salazar.
“Do you need a chainsaw?” one of the undercover cops asked Crystal Desmond, the stylist tasked with lopping off Salazar’s terrifically long tresses — which had become the stuff of legend around the Garden Grove PD.
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