Alameda County Probation Chief David Muhammad Resigns

Alameda County announced that its chief probation officer has decided to resign from his position.

Alameda County officials said that because an internal investigation found no wrongdoing by Muhammad regarding a sexual harassment and assault lawsuit filed against him by a deputy probation officer earlier this year, the county will continue to represent him in the civil suit against him.

The County released the following statement Wednesday afternoon:

David Muhammad, Alameda County’s Chief Probation Officer, has decided to resign from his position effective August 3, 2012, in order to pursue other opportunities. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors today accepted Mr. Muhammad’s resignation and wishes him the best in his future endeavors.

A thorough investigation conducted by an impartial third party concluded that allegations of sexual harassment and assault against Mr. Muhammad were not substantiated. Given this conclusion, Alameda County and Mr. Muhammad will continue to defend the civil action filed against them.

pending further action by the Board of Supervisors.

David Muhammad, 38, was placed on paid administrative leave after being The 30-year-old deputy then . The suit is still pending.

The deputy probation officer's suit against Muhammad is seeking unspecified general, special and punitive damages, alleging that she has suffered economic harm and has mental distress and anguish.

According to the employee's lawyer, the deputy probation officer is on unpaid leave due to the injuries she suffered when Muhammad allegedly sexually assaulted her.

According to the lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court, Muhammad has .

Patch also , who at the time went by David Gaither, detailing a case in which he was arrested on a charge of attempted murder at age 15.

Supervisor Keith Carson said Muhammad's the county will pay Muhammad the equivalent to three months of his salary.

The county's internal investigation of Muhammad was conducted by
an outside independent investigator hired by the County Counsel's Office,
Carson said.

The county and Muhammad agreed that it would be too distracting for him to return to the Probation Department because the department was already deeply divided, Carson said.

"He inherited a pretty volatile situation to begin with because there have been a series of chiefs in recent years and it's always a very challenging environment in which to operate," Carson said.

Muhammad "had a lot that he wanted to accomplish there and he wanted to make major changes" but he ran into resistance from employees who wanted to do things their own way, Carson said.

He said Muhammad "will be sorely missed because he was trying to put a lot of good practices and programs in place."

The after he held top probation positions in New York City and Washington, D.C. He began his Alameda County job on Feb. 14, 2011, exactly a year before he was placed
on leave.

Bay City News contributed to this report.