Photo: Kenneth Ryan Whipple
COVELO – The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a residence in the 76000 block of Henderson Lane on the night of June 9.
A 24-year-old Round Valley Tribal Police Officer was involved in an altercation with 45-year-old Kenneth Ryan Whipple. The officer had facial injuries and a cut to his ear.
The officer had reported to the residence because of vandalism that Whipple was committing. Whipple then commenced “attacking the officer by striking him about the face with closed fists.”
The altercation continued with the two on the ground, when Whipple then bit the officer on the neck and ear. Then the suspect got up and ran away.
Other officers arrived and learned that Whipple was now at his girlfriend’s house. His anger continued as he threatened to kill the 44-year-old female.
Whipple smashed the window of her vehicle and “destroyed multiple electronics and appliances inside the adult female’s residence, causing an estimated $5,000.00 worth of damage.”
The next day Whipple was located and arrested, and booked into Mendocino County Jail with bail set at $50,000.
