{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"Former Ukiah police chief accused of sexual assault","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":390,"description":"November 15, 2022, Sarah Reith — Noble Waidelich, the former Ukiah Police Chief, has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman on June 13th of this year while on duty. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office handled the investigation, but details are sparse. Mike Geniella, a longtime reporter for the Press Democrat and former spokesman for District Attorney David Eyster, has called for Eyster to recuse himself from the case because of his aggressive treatment of a woman who is now pursuing Waidelich in civil court, claiming domestic violence.\r\n\r\nGeniella reported on the State Attorney General’s review of the most recent allegation, and a few days ago, he broke the news that the AG had refused Eyster’s request to step away from the case. Geniella spoke with KZYX on Monday.\r\n\r\n“So the case is back in Eyster’s lap,” Geniella said. “He’s had it for five months now. The details are sketchy, but we do know now, thanks to the Attorney General’s office, that what’s facing the former police chief is an accusation of sexual assault of a woman while on duty. That has been impossible to pin down until now. There’s really been a wall of silence — the blue wall of silence, around this case. Coming on the heels of the Sergeant Murray case, and how close these two cases are linked, in terms of the Ukiah police department, and what’s been going on there for quite some time, it’s left people wondering, what’s happening here?” In August, Eyster’s office prosecuted former Ukiah Police Sergeant Kevin Murray on charges much reduced from the original sex crimes and burglaries Murray was facing. One victim’s records were left out of the plea deal entirely, and Murray emerged with a sentence of two years probation and no jail time.\r\n\r\n“The District Attorney has not said one word,” Geniella continued. “He’s not said one word about the Sergeant Murray case. He’s not said one word about the former police chief’s case. He simply is not talking, and frankly, no one else in law enforcement is...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}