Anaheim police officer accused of raping a woman at her home after tracking her down via her license plate

Anaheim Police Officer Carlos Romero is embroiled in a civil lawsuit filed by a woman who has been identified only as “Jane Doe” after she claimed that he raped her at her home.

Romero, who is still employed by the Anaheim Police Department, but is currently off-duty pending an investigation, allegedly ran the victim’s vehicle’s license plate number in May of 2023 while she was in the drive-thru at an In-N-Out Burger and he obtained her contact information.

It is illegal for police officers to run a license plate unless there is a legimate reason to do so. The OCDA’s special prosecution unit 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, according to the O.C. Register.  

Romero pleaded not guilty to that misdemeanor, according to court records.  

According to the legal 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 Romero 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 alleged.  

Romero is then accused of texting the woman while on duty and dropping by her home from time to time.  The complaint also revealed 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.  He then 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 finally 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.” 

Unfortunately the OCDA refused to file charges against Romero saying they “couldn’t prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.”  

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.