A Santa Clara County judge has granted Apple a temporary restraining order against a woman accused of harassing and threatening the comp...
A Santa Clara County judge has granted Apple a temporary restraining order against a woman accused of harassing and threatening the company’s chief executive, Tim Cook.
In court documents filed last week and first reported by The Mercury NewsApple has accused the woman, a 45-year-old Virginia resident, of making increasingly alarming threats and statements towards Mr Cook via email and Twitter since late 2020. She also claimed she was in a romantic relationship with him and that he was the father of her twin children, according to the documents.
The woman, Apple said, emailed Mr. Cook photos of what she said was a handgun and ammunition she had purchased, along with comments such as “My new gun never give it back until I shoot!” Apple also wrote that it had filed documents to create fraudulent companies, some with sexually explicit names, while naming Mr. Cook as an officer and listing his home address on the forms.
The situation escalated in October, when the woman appeared outside Mr Cook’s Palo Alto home in a car with a Virginia license plate and said she wanted to speak to him before security told her. returns, according to court documents. She returned a few minutes later and was arrested by local police. They searched his car and found no weapons, but towed the vehicle because his license had expired. She told them she “could get violent,” according to the filing.
The woman continued to send threatening emails to Mr. Cook, Apple wrote, including one in early January telling him he “needs to empty the condo” and that she would “move in next week.”
“Apple believes the Respondent may be armed and is still in the South Bay area and intends to return to the Apple CEO’s residence or otherwise locate him in the near future,” wrote the society. Apple declined to comment on Tuesday.
The restraining order prohibits the woman from possessing firearms or from approaching Mr. Cook’s residence or any Apple office until March 29, when a hearing on whether to extend the order is expected. The order also prohibits him from contacting Mr Cook or tagging him on social media.
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