A woman has accused an Anaheim police officer, who is currently off-duty pending an investigation, of raping her inside her home in September of last year, the Orange County Register reported.
In a civil rights lawsuit filed this week in Santa Ana, the woman, identified only as Jane Doe, claims Anaheim Police Department Officer Carlos Romero ran her vehicle’s license plate number in May 2023 while she was in the drive-thru at an In-N-Out Burger and obtained her contact information.
According to the complaint, Romero sent the woman a friend request on Facebook the following day and admitted to running her license plate while she was in line at the fast-food chain.
When he asked for her number, she said she gave it to him, but made it clear that she was not interested in a romantic relationship, the complaint noted.
Romero is then accused of texting the woman while on duty and dropping by her home from time to time.
The complaint stated that the woman agreed to this and on at least one occasion consented to kissing the police officer, but refused offers of sexual intercourse.
On Sept. 25, 2023, after receiving a text from the officer, she allowed him to come over. Romero showed up in his police vehicle and in uniform, according to the complaint, and the pair kissed, and he performed oral sex on her.
When Romero reportedly digitally penetrated her, the woman “expressed hurt,” the complaint said, and that the officer then called her a “brat.”
The woman alleges that the officer then forced her to perform oral sex on him and forcibly had sex with her.
“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,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff was terrified and fearful for her life. She just wanted Romero to leave.”
After reviewing the case, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office’s Sexual Assault Unit, according to The Orange County Register, declined to file charges, saying they “couldn’t prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The OCDA’s special prosecution unit, however, charged Romero in April with a misdemeanor count of “disclosing Department of Motor Vehicle information without authorization,” a database police are only allowed to use for the purposes of law enforcement, The O.C. Register reported.
According to court records, the officer pleaded not guilty to that misdemeanor.
A spokesperson for the city of Anaheim told the Orange County outlet that Romero was taken off duty in October as soon as the allegations emerged and that an internal investigation into the claims has been well underway.
The civil suit, which also names the city of Anaheim and several other unidentified police departments or city employees as defendants, is asking for more than $10 million in damages.
The O.C. Register said that they were unable to reach Romero for comment.