For nearly a month, a Fresno police officer and his family were the target of a relentless campaign of harassment and revenge from a man furious after receiving a ticket for jaywalking, a lawsuit says civil.
The officer, identified in the lawsuit as John Doe, was on duty on October 25, 2019, around 2 p.m. when he spotted a man, later identified as John Christopher Spatafore, illegally crossing the street downtown of Fresno, near Fresno City Hall and the railroad tracks.
Spatafore, 55, worked in information technology for Community Regional Medical Center and was about a block from his workplace. A police report described Spatafore as being “extremely confrontational” during questioning, but he took the ticket and the two men continued on their way.
The encounter should have ended at that point, but what followed was a bizarre series of events that the officer’s lawyer, Brian Whelan, called a “cybercampaign of hatred and revenge” against the officer, his wife and daughter.
The officer is suing Spatafore and the hospital for, among other things, invasion of privacy, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent supervision of an employee.
The officer is demanding no less than $5.5 million each for himself, his wife and his daughter. Punitive damages must be determined by a jury at trial.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for June 6 and a trial potentially later this year.
Harassment of Fresno police officer and his family
Court records and police reports detail Spatafore’s efforts to carry out his revenge plan. A few days after writing the jaywalking ticket, the officer began receiving password reset codes, indicating someone was trying to hack his email account.
The attempts continued at least 10 times over the next few days. Then the phone calls, emails and texts started.
Spatafore had issued thousands of requests for information to car dealerships, solar companies and retailers, according to the lawsuit.
In one day, the police officer received 100 text messages on his personal phone.
“Lamborghini, Rolls Royce and Maserati dealers began flooding John (the officer’s pseudonym) with calls ‘in response to your request’ regarding online orders and online inquiries that John never received made,” according to the lawsuit. “Additionally, there were also indications of attempted intrusion into plaintiffs’ wireless Internet, which suggested that Spatafore was lurking outside plaintiffs’ homes at all hours of the day and night to hack the Internet plaintiffs’ wireless network and was within the short range of wireless Internet. .”
In his deposition, Spatafore denied hacking into the officer’s email account. However, the harassment intensified.
He filed a false police report accusing the officer of being involved in a hit-and-run on October 1, 2019. In the narrative portion of the police report, Spatafore wrote: “A police motorcycle riding on a sidewalk with no lights or sirens. Appeared drunk on drugs while laughing out loud.
An investigation by Fresno police found the incident did not occur, and a search warrant later revealed the online report was linked to Spatafore’s IP address at the hospital.
Spatafore filed a second false report, this time alleging that the officer’s wife had been a victim of domestic violence. He also told police that the officer’s sister-in-law had photographic evidence of the abuse. Although a police investigation found the information to be false, it took a toll on the couple.
“Humiliating false reports of false domestic violence spread throughout the community and the Fresno Police Department, and John and Jane were humiliated, coerced and coerced into refuting the defamatory allegations,” according to the lawsuit.
Fresno hospital lays off IT worker
Despite the fear of getting caught, Spatafore was relentless in his “vindictive attacks”.
The police officer and his wife received a message that their home computer camera had been hacked and that the hacker had compromising videos of them that he was threatening to release unless his demands were met.
“I need your 100% attention for the next 24 hours, or I will definitely ensure that you live guilt-free for the rest of your life…I know almost everything about you…” Spatafore reportedly written: according to the lawsuit.
Although some acts of harassment were threatening, other incidents were infuriating. Spatafore allegedly attempted to have the officer’s water and trash services turned off on Thanksgiving Day. The police officer was forced to intervene with municipal staff to prevent this from happening.
Nearly a month after he began his online harassment, Spatafore was arrested by Fresno police on November 21, 2019. He was driving less than a mile from the officer’s home when police stopped him. Inside his car was a loaded .38 caliber revolver that was not registered. Spatafore also did not have a license to carry the handgun and denied ownership.
The hospital fired Spatafore on November 21, 2019 after it was discovered he was using the organization’s equipment, including a laptop, to carry out his revenge plan.
In an interview with police, Spatafore admitted to online harassment, adding that he used public information websites and Facebook profiles to obtain information, not hospital records.
Hospital officials declined to comment on the civil suit.
“As this matter is ongoing, we are unable to comment,” said Michelle Von Tersch, senior vice president of communications and legislative affairs.
Criminal case suspended
Spatafore was charged with two counts of unauthorized use of personally identifying information, one count of possession of a firearm concealed in a vehicle, one misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property and one misdemeanor count of making a false statement.
The court also issued a restraining order against him, prohibiting him from contacting the officer or his family.
But criminal proceedings against Spatafore were stayed after his lawyer, Corina Burchfield, successfully got him into a mental health diversion program.
The program is designed to provide treatment to defendants with mental health issues instead of sending them directly to prison. Treatment can last up to two years.
Burchfield, senior associate attorney at Sawl Law Group in Fresno, defended the decision to have Spatafore treated for mental illness, saying “he was not in the right mental state at that time.”
She said Spatafore was a changed man, active in his church and also a grandfather.
“When all this happened, when he was arrested, he apologized and expressed remorse and apologies,” she said. “He lost his job of 17 years because of this. It was very unusual for him. It ruined his life. »
Burchfield, however, also understands that the incident was traumatic for the officer and his family.
“He was incredibly upset because this spilled over into his family life and he is using every means possible to punish my client and get some sort of compensation,” she said. “But he (Spatafore) got the help he needed and he’s not a danger to anyone.”
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