They Met At A Festival. He Was A Sheriff's Deputy — And A Stalker, Her Lawsuit Claims - Beritaja

LA QUINTA — Briana Ortega had been location for each of 3 minutes erstwhile she heard a fist pounding against her door.

She opened it to find a Riverside County sheriff’s lawman “claiming a achromatic man pinch dreadlocks had jumped complete her backyard fence” and was trying to break into her La Quinta home, according to tribunal records.

Almost immediately, Ortega, 29, suspected Deputy Eric Piscatella was location for different reasons. The brushwood past summertime wasn’t the first clip they’d met. It wasn’t moreover the first clip he’d shown up astatine her location unannounced, according to an apprehension affidavit and claims successful a civilian lawsuit.

“You look beautiful without constitution ... sorry I don’t mean to beryllium rude aliases unprofessional,” Piscatella said, aft spending a scant fewer seconds looking retired a model for the purported suspect, according to a signaling of the incident.

It was the 4th clip successful little than a twelvemonth that Piscatella had either shown up astatine Ortega’s location aliases contacted her without a morganatic rule enforcement purpose, according to the affidavit and lawsuit. Ortega shared matter messages showing the lawman tried to flirt pinch her and inquire her retired connected dates, but she rebuffed him astatine each turn.

A erstwhile Riverside County sheriff’s lawman is accused successful a suit of utilizing rule enforcement resources to prosecute a female he met astatine a nationalist event.

(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)

Last year, Riverside County prosecutors charged Piscatella, 30, pinch 7 counts of illegally utilizing rule enforcement databases to look up accusation about Ortega.

But alternatively of resolving the situation, Ortega says, the measurement Piscatella’s lawsuit played retired successful criminal tribunal has only prolonged her ordeal.

Ortega said she remains “terrified” of Piscatella and declined to attest against him. In July, a Riverside County judge downgraded each charges against Piscatella to misdemeanors. He pleaded blameworthy and received probation, avoiding jailhouse time.

Last month, Ortega revenge a national civilian authorities suit against Piscatella, the section and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a starring Republican campaigner successful the 2026 governor’s race.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco kicks disconnected his run to tally for politician astatine Avila’s Historic 1929 halfway connected Feb. 17 successful Riverside.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“I consciousness for illustration pinch him getting the misdemeanor, thing is ever going to change… If it takes maine having to [file this lawsuit], I will, if it helps,” she said.

Piscatella declined to remark done his defense attorney.

A spokesperson for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Piscatella resigned past October aft about 5 years connected the job. His expertise to activity arsenic a constabulary serviceman successful California is suspended, legalization records show, but without a felony condemnation it could beryllium restored.

Ortega recalled her first run-in pinch Piscatella arsenic guiltless enough.

She was attending what she described arsenic a “family fair,” pinch her 2 sons successful Coachella successful September 2023, enjoying amusement rides and carnival games erstwhile she said her oldest boy ran up to a group of sheriff’s deputies who were giving retired stickers. Piscatella was among them, according to Ortega, who said they had a polite but forgettable conversation.

They did not speech interaction information, but a fewer months later, successful January of 2024, Ortega said, she sewage a matter from an chartless number.

The texter claimed to beryllium her “personal officer.” A fittingness influencer pinch much than 100,000 followers connected TikTok and Instagram, Ortega gets random coquettish messages from men. So she shrugged it off.

That aforesaid month, Piscatella searched Ortega’s sanction and the metropolis of La Quinta successful some the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and different sheriff’s databases soon earlier the texts were sent, according to tribunal records. In Ortega’s civilian suit, she alleged this was really Piscatella tracked her down.

One period later, Piscatella showed up astatine Ortega’s La Quinta location while she was astatine work, according to her lawsuit. Her mother answered the door, and was “alarmed” erstwhile the lawman questioned wherever her girl was. Still, Ortega wasn’t bothered.

“I’m like, he’s a cop, he can’t beryllium that crazy. He’s connected the unit for a logic ... of people he knows wherever I live,” she said.

Echoing claims successful her lawsuit, she added: “I’m not reasoning he’s going to proceed to look for maine aliases stalk me. If I would person known, I would person complained.”

Ortega was truthful unfazed that she really went to Piscatella for thief a period later. Her younger sister had been the unfortunate of an battle and was struggling to get attraction from the Sheriff’s Department. So Ortega contacted the man who claimed to beryllium her “personal officer.”

But erstwhile Ortega began describing the purported crime, Piscatella responded by asking her to nonstop a “selfie” and insisting they should spell to the gym together. Annoyed, Ortega yet changed her number erstwhile alternatively of help, each she sewage was a image of Piscatella wearing Sheriff’s Department clothes, according to matter messages.

Court records show Piscatella continued to usage rule enforcement databases to support tabs connected Ortega successful the months that followed. In May 2024, he searched her sanction and ran her licence plate, according to tribunal records. He did the aforesaid successful July, correct earlier showing up astatine Ortega’s house, claiming he saw the man pinch dreadlocks break in.

At that point, Piscatella’s liking successful Ortega had turned into an “obsession,” according to her lawsuit. Since he arrived conscionable minutes aft she’d returned from a travel to San Diego, Ortega said it felt for illustration Piscatella was “waiting for me.” She alleges successful her suit that the lawman “used rule enforcement resources and databases ... to stalk her.”

After letting him in, she surreptitiously recorded the lawman opinionated successful her surviving room, talking to her children. In the lawsuit, Ortega said she was “confused, frightened and uncomfortable,” particularly aft Piscatella asked for her caller number, which she gave him retired of “fear.”

Piscatella texted her a short clip later, according to messages reviewed by The Times, describing her kids arsenic “so cool.”

“I don’t consciousness comfortable pinch everything that conscionable happened. Please do not interaction maine again,” Ortega wrote back.

Briana Ortega revenge a suit alleging that she has been surviving successful fearfulness of a erstwhile Riverside County sheriff’s deputy.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

She made a title to the Sheriff’s Department the aforesaid day. Court records show the section launched an soul investigation and quickly wished Piscatella had utilized rule enforcement databases to look up accusation connected Ortega respective times, according to an affidavit seeking a warrant for his arrest.

The affidavit shows location was “no corresponding telephone for service” related to the time Piscatella showed up astatine Ortega’s location and claimed personification was breaking in.

Riverside County prosecutors revenge 7 felony charges against Piscatella.

Ortega said she refused to attest because, moreover though the Sheriff’s Department had presented a lawsuit against 1 of their own, she feared Piscatella aliases a chap lawman mightiness activity retribution against her.

At a July tribunal proceeding successful Indio, Piscatella made an unfastened plea to the tribunal seeking to downgrade each complaint to a misdemeanor and debar jailhouse time, according to a transcript of the proceeding.

Riverside County Deputy Dist. Atty. Natasha Sorace pleaded pinch Superior Court Judge Helios J. Hernandez not to judge the lesser charges.

“The suspect was a constabulary serviceman — a sheriff’s deputy, who utilized his position of powerfulness and the accusation he had entree to arsenic a consequence of that position to put personification successful the organization successful important fearfulness for their safety,” Sorace said.

“He searched accusation — conducted a hunt about a peculiar individual and utilized that accusation to travel up pinch an excuse to get into that woman’s house, wherever he proceeded to deed connected her and make her consciousness uncomfortable successful her ain connected home.”

But Hernandez rebuffed her attempts to reason the constituent further. In his view, “nothing really happened.”

“He never, like, collapsed into the location aliases threatened her,” Hernandez said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Hernandez sentenced Piscatella to probation and organization work and ordered him to enactment distant from Ortega. Records show prosecutors person appealed the decision.

A spokeswoman for the territory attorney’s agency would not opportunity if Ortega’s refusal to attest affected their expertise to bring different charges, including the stalking allegation she made successful the civilian suit.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s spokesperson declined to remark connected the pending litigation.

The full ordeal near Ortega emotion for illustration rule enforcement grounded her astatine each level. She noted that Piscatella still knows wherever she lives.

While she antecedently did not clasp a antagonistic position of police, now she says she turns the different guidance and grows anxious anytime she sees a Sheriff’s Department cruiser.

“It’s a betrayal of spot from rule enforcement ... who do you telephone erstwhile it’s the constabulary who are the problem?” asked her attorney, Jamal Tooson. “When could you ever consciousness safe? You almost consciousness trapped, successful your ain house.”