They met at a festival. She says he became her stalker

A TikTok influencer claims a Riverside County sheriff's deputy used privileged databases to track and harass her

- JAMES QUEALLY

GINA FERAZZI Los Angeles Times BRIANA ORTEGA feels trapped at home. Deputy Eric Piscatella had called himself her "personal officer."

Briana Ortega had been home for all of three minutes when she heard a fist pounding against her door.

She opened it to find a Riverside County sheriff's deputy "claiming a Black man with dreadlocks had jumped over her backyard fence" and was trying to break into her La Quinta home, according to court records.

Almost immediately, Ortega, 29, suspected Deputy Eric Piscatella was there for other reasons. The encounter last summer wasn't the first time they'd met. It wasn’t even the first time he’d shown up at her home unannounced, according to an arrest affidavit and claims in a civil lawsuit.

“You look pretty without makeup ... sorry I don’t mean to be rude or unprofessional,” Piscatella said after spending a scant few seconds looking out a window for the purported suspect, according to a recording of the incident.

It was the fourth time in less than a year that Piscatella had either shown up at Ortega’s home or contacted her without a legitimate law enforcement purpose, according to the affidavit and lawsuit.

GARY CORONADO Los Angeles Times THE DEPUTY has resigned but may be allowed to work again as an officer, a spokesperson said.

Ortega shared text messages showing the deputy tried to flirt with her and ask her out on dates, but she rebuffed him at every turn.

Last year, Riverside County prosecutors charged Piscatella, 30, with seven counts of illegally using law enforcement databases to look up information about Ortega.

But instead of resolving the situation, Ortega says, the way Piscatella's case played out in criminal court has only prolonged her ordeal.