- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Authorities arrest former Ukiah Police sergeant for 2014 rape
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Thursday, Mendocino County authorities arrested a former Ukiah Police sergeant on charges related to a 2014 rape case.
Kevin Patrick Murray, 37, of Lakeport was taken into custody in Lake County and booked into the Mendocino County Jail Thursday morning on felony charges of rape, forcible oral copulation and being armed in the commission of a felony, according to jail records.
Murray’s booking records show that the charges in question stem from acts authorities say were committed in 2014.
In a criminal complaint the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office filed this week, Murray is charged with raping a woman sometime between June 1 and July 1, 2014, and is facing a special allegation of being armed with a firearm during the commission of the assault.
The complaint’s second count charges Murray with a felony for forcible oral copulation in an assault on the same victim that occurred on April 10, 2014.
Murray is being held on $500,000 bail.
Just last month, Murray lost his job at the Ukiah Police Department over a separate criminal case that began in November.
In a Jan. 29 Facebook video, Ukiah Police Chief Justin Wyatt reported that Murray, who had been a sergeant in the department, was no longer employed there following a two-month-long internal affairs investigation.
Wyatt said the department first learned of potential misconduct by Murray in late November.
On Nov. 25, Murray is alleged to have committed sexual battery and burglary at a Ukiah motel.
Wyatt said his department contacted the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office on the evening of Nov. 25 and asked for a criminal investigation into Murray’s conduct.
Wyatt said he wanted the community to know that because the department acted swiftly and took the matter seriously, Murray is now answering for his conduct in the criminal courts.
“The law enforcement profession demands integrity so there is no room in public service and there must be no tolerance for the behavior that was portrayed that evening,” Wyatt said of the Nov. 25 incident.
Eyster’s office filed charges against Murray for the November case on Jan. 22, at which time he was arrested, according to case documents.
In that case, court documents show that he’s charged with two counts of felony first-degree burglary with special allegations of committing the burglary in an occupied room, felony sexual battery and a violation of civil rights, all alleged to have occurred on Nov. 25.
Another charge filed in the same case, misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine, is alleged to have occurred on or about Dec. 1.
Following a preliminary hearing on Feb. 10 and 11, Murray was held to answer in that initial case and is set to return to court for arraignment on March 4, according to Mendocino County Superior Court records.
Murray also is named as a defendant in a federal court case alleging excessive use of force filed against the city of Ukiah last February.
Plaintiff Christopher Rasku said that in an October 2018 incident, Murray – responding to a complaint by Rasku’s neighbor about an argument with another neighbor – “entered the plaintiff's home unlawfully, knocked the plaintiff unconscious, and punched, kneed, and kicked him, causing several broken ribs, a punctured and partially collapsed lung, nerve damage, and other injuries,” according to court filings.
Case records show a settlement conference is scheduled in the Rasku case for March 1.
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