Lawsuit claims Anaheim police officer raped woman in her home – Orange County Register

An Orange County woman claims in a recently filed lawsuit that an Anaheim police officer raped her in her home several months after he spotted her at an In-N-Out restaurant and ran her license plate to contact her.

Anaheim officer Carlos Romero — who is currently off duty pending an internal department investigation and who has been charged with allegedly misusing a DMV database — is now also facing public allegations that he sexually harassed a woman, according to a civil rights lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Santa Ana.

The woman – identified in the lawsuit under the pseudonym Jane Doe – was standing in a drive-thru line outside an In-N-Out restaurant near Orange Avenue and Brookhurst Street on May 19, 2023, when she saw Officer Romero staring at her and smiling, according to the civil lawsuit.

The next day, the woman received a “friend request” on Facebook from Romero, who confirmed that he had seen her at the fast-food restaurant and had determined her name from her license plate information, the complaint states.

“Romero asked plaintiff for her phone number and plaintiff gave it to him,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff thought it couldn’t hurt to be in the good graces of a local police officer.”

The woman made it clear to Romero that she was not interested in a romantic relationship, the complaint states. Romero allegedly texted the woman while on duty and occasionally visited her at his home. The woman agreed to kiss Romero, the complaint states, but “rejected his requests for sexual intercourse.”

On Sept. 25, 2023, Romero called and texted the woman asking if he could come to her home, the complaint said. The woman agreed, the complaint added, but told Romero she was having a bad day and “if he was coming over for sex, he shouldn’t come.”

According to the complaint, Romero drove to her home in a police vehicle and appeared in his uniform.

The woman allowed Romero to kiss her and perform oral sex on her, the lawsuit says, but she “expressed her pain” when Romero “roughly and suddenly penetrated her with his fingers,” after which he called her a “brat,” the lawsuit says.

Despite being told “no,” the prosecution alleges, Romero pulled down his pants and forcibly had sex with her and then forced her to perform oral sex on him.

“Plaintiff made it very clear before and during the forced sexual intercourse that she did not consent to sexual intercourse with Romero,” the lawsuit states. “At all times during these events, Romero’s gun was on the top cushion of Plaintiff’s couch, in full view of Plaintiff and within reach of Romero. Plaintiff was terrified and fearful for her life. She just wanted Romero to leave.”

Romero could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit, which also names the city of Anaheim and nine other unnamed city and police employees as defendants, seeks damages of more than $10 million.

Anaheim city spokesman Mike Lester said Romero was removed from active duty in October as soon as the allegations were made public to police. Romero is still employed by the police department but is on leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation that officials said is currently in “advanced stages.”

“We hold our police officers to the highest standards and our Police Department thoroughly investigates all cases of employee misconduct,” Lester said. “When these allegations were brought to our attention, the Anaheim Police Department immediately initiated criminal and administrative investigations…

“In addition, we must respect the restrictions of state law that prohibit us from making further comments on ongoing personnel investigations,” Lester added.

Officials said the results of the department’s criminal investigation into Romero’s alleged actions have been forwarded to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutor’s officials said the case was being reviewed for possible criminal charges by both the Sexual Offenses Prosecutor’s Office and the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which handles most cases involving police officers.

The Sex Crimes Unit declined to file charges, DA spokeswoman Kimberly Edds confirmed, because they “could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed.” If any additional information emerges regarding a possible sexual assault, prosecutors will thoroughly review it, Edds said.

Special Branch prosecutors charged Romero in April with leaking DMV information without authorization. Information in the DMV database can only be accessed by officials for legitimate law enforcement purposes.

According to court records, Romero pleaded not guilty to that charge, and the misdemeanor case is still pending.