In June 2023, a former female officer of the Willits Police Department named Natalie Higley filed a civil lawsuit against her previous employer alleging she suffered sexual harassment and hostility perpetrated by her superior Lieutenant Derek Hendry, a notorious member of Mendocino County law enforcement whose career is shrouded in scandal.
Higley’s judicial fight is over. As per an announcement from the City of Willits submitted to the Willits Weekly, the City Council unanimously approved a conditional settlement agreement with Higley during a closed session on February 24, 2024. The settlement agreement became effective on April 18 freeing the City of Willits from a “potentially lengthy, uncertain, and expensive jury trial,” according to the announcement
As confirmed by City Councilmember Greta Kanne, Higley received a settlement of $2.25 million for agreeing to dismiss her lawsuit.
According to court documents, Higley’s career with the Willits Police Department began when she was recruited by then-Lieutenant Hendry enrolling in a regional police academy in July 2020. Her stint at the agency would be over by the following October after she reported Hendry’s alleged harassment to Chief Fabian Lizarraga and her physician placed her on medical leave due to stress.
This is not the first lawsuit the City of Willits has faced involving Hendry’s work conduct. In December 2022, they settled a civil suit filed by former Willits Police Chief Alexis Blaylock who alleged that during her one month at the helm of WPD she experienced a hostile, sexist, and racist work environment. The civil suit cites multiple interactions between Blaylock and Hendry as evidence of these claims. Blaylock received $250,000.
Between these two civil suits, the actions of former Lieutenant Derek Hendry have cost the City of Willits a total of $2.5 million.
Hendry worked for over a decade in local law enforcement. Between 2010 and 2018, he served as a deputy in the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office before being fired. Hendry then advanced through the ranks at the Willits Police Department, eventually attaining the rank of lieutenant. In April 2022, just four months after Higley was reportedly relieved of her badge and gun, Hendry was terminated from his position.
Hendry is no longer employed at the Willits Police Department. California’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training is investigating Hendry looking into claims he abused his police powers and demonstrated bias on the job. If the claims are verified, Hendry will never be able to be a cop in California again.
[The original photograph was extremely saturated so we used a black and white filter for visual clarity]
Hendry’s termination likely offers limited consolation to the three women who have publicly come forward with allegations of abuse by Hendry: Natalie Higley, Lorna Allen, or Alexis Blaylock.
According to the civil suit, Higley endured relentless harassment by Hendry about her weight. He allegedly postured frequently in front of Higley about his prowess with women weaving explicit sexual language into work talk.
Once, under the guise of celebrating a workplace achievement, Hendry allegedly picked Higley up from her home in a vehicle and drove her to a “deserted road where no home or building was in sight.” He began probing Higley with personal questions about her sexual preferences and exploits. Alone in a vehicle with her superior officer and a physically dominating man, Higley said she was asked by Hendry, “Would you fuck me?” When she refused, Hendry allegedly said, “You would totally fuck me, wouldn’t you?”
Higley is not the only woman alleging Hendry was inappropriate with her. Nor are her assertions the worst. Lorna Allen, aged 41, came forward in December 2022 alleging abuse by Hendry while he served as a law enforcement officer. During the period spanning 2015 to 2020, while struggling with addiction and financial hardship, Allen claimed that Hendry subjected her to physical violence, threats of imprisonment, and abuse of his authority as a police officer to coerce her into engaging in multiple sexual encounters, including one incident inside a police vehicle.
During our interview with Allen in December 2022, she recounted instances where Hendry threatened to frame her with heroin possession and arrest her on drug charges if she did not comply with his sexual demands. Allen also described engaging in sexual acts with Hendry in the back of his patrol vehicle while he was in uniform.
Alexis Blaylock was hired to lead the Willits Police Department in August 2020. Her civil suit alleges she was immediately met with dissension by her lower-ranking Lieutenant Hendry.
Court documents allege Hendry undermined Blaylock’s leadership on the basis of gender and race. He allegedly expressed to her that he had reservations about reporting to a female chief, indicating that he and other officers were not accustomed to female leadership.
In the presence of City of Willits’s Human Resources Director Karen Stevenson, Lieutenant Hendry allegedly remarked that it felt “odd” to work under a woman. Additionally, the letter notes that Lieutenant Hendry conveyed to an unnamed city employee that Chief Blaylock’s race played a significant role in his opposition to her.
For the first time since her abrupt exit as the Willits Police Chief and the settlement of her lawsuit against the City of Willits, veteran law enforcement officer Alexis Blaylock spoke with us about the work environment that enabled Hendry to remain employed and in power for as long as he did.
Blaylock said that when she was at the helm of the Willits Police Department for that brief stint in early-Fall 2020, she told City Manager Stephanie Garrabrant-Sierra and the Human Resources Manager Karen Stevenson that Hendry was a “serious liability” offering city staff “concrete examples to support my concerns.” Instead of supporting Blaylock in her concerns, she says she was met with all-out defense of Hendry. Further, she said City administration ordered Blaylock not to investigate Hendry or anyone else in the department, seemingly insulating Hendry from scrutiny.
Blaylock found in her role as the Willits Police Chief, city administrative staff had “undermined my efforts to establish a clean and ethical police department that would give the citizens and visitors of Willits the high-quality service they deserved”
After Blaylock resigned and filed her civil suit, she learned “some Willits city administrators (including one who admitted she was still friends with Hendry after he had been fired from Willits Police Department) proceeded to smear my name with false accusations that I was negligent in my job and that I was playing the race card.” Blaylock said the accusations affected her “ability to find new work.”
In Blaylock’s perspective, Natalie Higley’s lawsuit represents the inevitable conclusion of the “diabolical work of a depraved mind who was encouraged to continue in his malfeasance by administrators who refused to hold him accountable.” Blaylock calls it “tragic” that “citizens are the ones who have to foot the bill”. She maintains that the “people of Willits deserve better.
Blaylock believes that the City of Willits could have made “better decisions that would have prevented all of this.” She suggests that there is “a ‘story behind the story; of why they went through so much effort and money to protect Derek Hendry. We may never know. But then again, perhaps we will. I guess we will have to wait and see.” (Read the entirety of Blaylock’s statement to us here)
In 2022, Hendry was the focus of a criminal investigation. Matters of a criminal nature involving Hendry were brought forward to then Willits Police Chief Fabian Lizarraga who sought the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to investigate mitigating conflicts of interest. On August 5, 2022, LCSO’s Major Crimes unit served a search warrant on Hendry’s Ukiah home.
In subsequent interviews with Chief Lizarraga, we learned that the evidence investigators gathered pointed towards criminal activity committed by Hendry and he forwarded the case file to Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster to formally file criminal charges. No charges were ever filed. Inquires about what happened when the file got to the DA’s desk have gone unanswered.
The Hendry-era has been hard for the Willits Police Department. Coupled with a declining municipal budget and an era of police hiring shortages, Hendry’s multitude of scandals seemed to some the death knell of Mendocino County’s smallest city police department.
Willits City Councilmember Greta Kanne had a different take for us in a recent correspondence. When we asked her how she would assess the culture and climate of the Willits Police Department now, she said, “It’s been a rough few years for the department, but we’re fortunate to have a core of dedicated officers and dispatchers who care deeply about our community and are committed to helping WPD be the best it can be.”
When Chief Fabian Lizarraga resigned in August 2023, the City of Willits decided to hire on two interim chiefs to lead the agency while the city manager found a new permanent chief. Councilmember Kanne said, “We’ve recently had two excellent interim chiefs in Connor and Dewey while we recruit for a permanent chief, and I have faith in our city manager to select a candidate who will continue to emphasize community policing and work to rebuild the department.”
Last night, Friday, April 26, 2024, Councilmember Kanne attended a promotion ceremony for officers of the Willits Police which she saw as emblematic of a new era for the agency, She said, “Mayor Rodriguez and I were at City Hall tonight for the promotion ceremonies for Rodrigo Avalos who was promoted to Sergeant and Mike Stainbrook who was promoted to Dispatch Supervisor. Both men are highly respected and deserving of their promotions.”
At the ceremony, Councilmember Kanne heard Interim Chief Dewey express his belief that “the department can look forward to continued improvement with these two in leadership roles.”
Despite the agency’s setbacks, Councilmember Kanne is hopeful. She said, “ I think residents should feel proud of our current staff at WPD and look forward to the future.”
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Why in the world does he need any further investigation before denying him the right to be an officer in this state or any other? Any other person in any other profession would’ve been investigated.
This is infuriating and the city of Willits will just say it’s covered by our insurance policies for the pay out. Hendry may not be able to be a LEO in the state of California but that does not preclude him from being hired in another state and municipality whom are desperate for LEO’s. I remember being excited when Chief Blaylocks was hired and was hoping for a new day and age and was surprised and dismayed when she left shortly after she arrived.
Totally not surprised that DA Eyster did nothing as he is only interested in cases that are a slam dunk win for him and continue his case rate of convictions. He is the absolute worst who has let countless crimes go unpunished or downgraded the charges against criminals for his own ego and so called professional standing. Truly is a shame he runs unopposed in most of his elections.
As for the city of Willits, sick of the corruption, the cover ups and the nasty brown water they continue to say is safe to drink and bathe in…they are more interested in a stupid rail trail that they think is going to be the savior since the cannabis market has taken a dump.
My cultural deconstruction is complete
Derek Henry has disgraced the good name of my great grandfather Willie Henry who was the most amazing man I’ve ever known. I have been trying to press charges in lake county against Derek for terrorist threats, verbal and attempted physical assault against me and my ex at running creek casino in upper lake CA, but the DA refuses to prosecute, what is that all about? I will continue to insist that the DA file charges as his threats were not only against me, but against my kids and parents as well..the whole thing is caught on video, get the police and the casino have done nothing to help me, either at the time of the incident, or at any time since then. I am embarrassed and ashamed to be blood related to Derek, and I won’t stop until he is held accountable for his actions. I changed my phone number, was constantly looking behind me when I would go anywhere alone because I know Derek and first chance he gets he will come at me and those I love. He needs to answer for his discretions, maybe I should just file a civil suit against lake county for failure to prosecute him for the crimes he committed after being fired from the police department in willits…anyone facing what he was legally, that still continues to break the law…that is a sociopath plain and simple and a dangerous one at that! Congrats to Natalie!!! Good job girl, I am beyond proud of u!!
Wow to the amount of money. Seems like winning the jack pot, and an absurd amount IMhO. Hope it is a wake up call to the local government community overseeing such issues. These kind of lawsuit wins cost the community in rising insurance costs.