Ukiah Quietly Pays $450K in Suit Alleging Ex-Chief’s Sexual Assault

Various pictures of Ukiah Police Chief Noble Waidelich. [All photographs from the Ukiah Police Department Facebook page]

Less than a year before the alleged June 13, 2022, assault, Waidelich had been promoted to police chief. He had served with the department for 15 years and was praised at the time by City Manager Sage Sangiacomo as embodying “the best characteristics and core values that are essential for a trusted, effective community police department.”

Four days after the alleged incident, the City of Ukiah terminated Waidelich. In a press release, Sangiacomo said the decision stemmed from “recent events [that] have transpired, illuminating the fact that this individual is not a good fit for the City.”

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office investigated the woman’s allegations for possible criminal charges and forwarded its findings to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office. District Attorney David Eyster did not file a criminal complaint. His office did not respond to a recent request for comment about that decision.

With no criminal prosecution pursued, the woman, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, filed a federal civil lawsuit in February 2023 against the City of Ukiah and Waidelich. The complaint accused Waidelich of appearing at her home in full uniform and sexually assaulting her after she rejected his initial advances. The filing also alleged that the City of Ukiah enabled the misconduct by ignoring warning signs and failing to supervise him.

An amended complaint expanded on those allegations, asserting that the city and department maintained a “de facto policy, long-standing practice and custom and widespread culture of failing to discipline or adequately supervise officers who engaged in on and off duty criminal conduct, including but not limited to crimes against women.”

The complaint referenced the case of Amanda Carley, Waidelich’s former girlfriend, who more than a decade earlier reported domestic violence allegations against him to the City of Ukiah. The filing claimed city officials failed to act on her reports and, despite their severity, later promoted him to police chief.

According to the complaint, the Ukiah Police Department hired a private investigator who told Carley he was not conducting an internal affairs investigation but had been hired to “cover their asses,” discouraging her from cooperating. The filing also stated that after Carley’s daughter later disclosed the alleged abuse, Carley — not Waidelich — was punished, placed on the Brady List, and stripped of her firearm, ending her career.

Many of the claims in the amended complaint mirrored findings in a 2022 Los Angeles Times investigation, which detailed years of domestic-violence reports, internal reviews, and inaction that allowed Waidelich to continue advancing through the department.

Despite that history, the complaint alleged, the city promoted Waidelich, to eventually chief in 2021, never reprimanding him or removing his weapon. The filing concluded that the city’s inaction “emboldened Waidelich” and led him to believe “he was free to engage in criminal conduct, including sexual assault, with impunity.”

Just over three years after the alleged assault, the civil case concluded with a $450,000 settlement on June 16. As part of the agreement, Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, releasing Waidelich, the City of Ukiah, and related entities from all liability. 

Eric Rose, a spokesperson for attorney Thomas Johnston of the Los Angeles-based firm Johnston & Hutchinson, which represented Doe, said in an email, “We are pleased with the settlement, as former Police Chief Weidelich’s conduct was outrageous and evidence of a highly problematic command climate at the Ukiah Police Department at the time of the incident.”

Rose noted the court’s rejection of the city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “The record in this matter demonstrated that senior police officials and city administrators were aware of past serious allegations against Weidelich, yet promoted him in late 2022 to lead the department,” he said. Jane Doe’s decision to come forward, Rose added, “resulted in Chief Weidelich being terminated from his position as chief and hopefully led to greater oversight of senior police leaders in the future.”

Patrick Moriarty, an attorney representing the City of Ukiah, said the city “provided a defense for former Chief Noble Waidelich, the City, and the Police Department.” He emphasized that the city denied culpability, writing, “From the outset, the City made clear that, if the allegations occurred as Jane Doe described, the City did not cause the assault and could not be held responsible for it.”

Moriarty said the settlement reflected the financial realities of litigation, noting that juries have recently issued large verdicts in law-enforcement cases and that, had Doe prevailed, the city could have been required to pay her attorney fees.

“For those who might suggest the agreement implies guilt,” Moriarty wrote, “the settlement includes no admission of liability. The City takes allegations of sexual misconduct seriously, but this resolution was a business decision made to protect municipal funds.”

Trevor McCann, an attorney who represented Waidelich, said only, “Mr. Waidelich has no comment.”

Editor’s note: The allegations described in this article were resolved through a financial settlement. The settlement included no admission of liability by the defendants.

Earlier:

• Former Probation Officer’s Suit Alleges Domestic Abuse by Her Fiancé, the Current Ukiah Police Chief, and Retaliation by Her Mendocino County Bosses
• Ukiah Police Chief Noble Waidelich on Administrative Leave Due to ‘Criminal Investigation’
• Sonoma County Conducting Investigation into Ukiah Police Chief Waidelich at Request of Sheriff Kendall
• ‘Our community deserves better’: City of Ukiah Terminates Police Chief Who Is Under Investigation for Unknown Criminal Activities
• ‘The whole police department is burning down’: Scandal-Plagued UPD Faces Latest Allegation of Beating an Unarmed Man
• Case Brought by Ex-Girlfriend of Fired Ukiah Police Chief Moves Toward Trial
• Policing the Police: Multiple Cases Involving Ukiah Officers
• Sonoma County Completes Its Investigation Into Ex-Ukiah Police Chief —Forwards Finding to Mendo DA
• The Police Chief Saga: An Op-Ed From Mike Geniella
• California Attorney General’s Office Assessing Whether Mendo DA Is Free of Conflicts in Case of Former Ukiah Police Chief
• Attorney General’s Office Declines to Allow Mendo DA Dave Eyster to Be Recused From Former Ukiah Police Chief’s Alleged Sexual Assault Case
• Investigation Into Former Ukiah Police Chief ‘Still Ongoing’ Six Months Later