Fullerton Police Chief David Hendricks, who has been on paid leave since late August amid an investigation into his actions during altercation that also involved a police captain at a Lady Antebellum concert in Irvine, resigned Friday.
A statement released by the city announcing his resignation did not mention the probe. Capt. Robert Dunn will continue to serve as interim chief of the department.
"I am honored to have had the privilege of leading the men and women of the Fullerton Police Department," Hendricks said in the statement. "I am grateful to the City Council and City Manager Ken Domer for the opportunity to serve the Fullerton community as Chief of Police."
Hendricks, who was Fullerton's chief for about a year, has been under criminal investigation over an Aug. 24 confrontation at a Lady Antebellum concert at FivePoint Amphitheatre. Hendricks and police Capt. Thomas Oliveras allegedly got into a scuffle with a pair of emergency medical technicians who were tending to Hendricks' wife during the concert. Hendricks and Oliveras were kicked out of the concert.
No injuries were reported, but Irvine police investigated the altercation and submitted their probe to Orange County prosecutors in late August for consideration of possible criminal charges.
As of Friday morning, no criminal charges against the pair have been announced.
Hendricks started his law enforcement career in Long Beach in 1994 and was a deputy chief with the Long Beach Police Department before being named to his current post in July 2017. He succeeded Dan Hughes, who left for an executive security job at Disneyland.
Hughes left under his own cloud when a former Orange County district attorney's investigator alleged that the ex-chief sent a police sergeant to give then-City Manager Joe Felz a ride home after he crashed his car into a tree on Nov. 9, 2016. The former city manager later took a plea deal on a "wet reckless" count and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service.
Hughes took the job in 2012 from then-acting Chief Kevin Hamilton, who took over from former Chief Michael Sellers, who went on paid medical leave following the officer-involved beating death of transient Kelly Thomas.
