WOODLAND HILLS—On Friday, December 15, Derrick Toole, 59, who reportedly owns Derrick Toole Construction in Woodland Hills plead guilty to stalking two separate ex-girlfriends. According to the Ventura County District Attorney’s office, Toole violated a Temporary Restraining Order by calling, texting, and showing up at the victim’s residence.
The prosecutor indicated that in 2019, the first of the two women that Toole had previously dated, moved to a new location. “He would show up at her new address uninvited, damaged her home door locks so they would not work, vandalized her vehicle, and placed a tracking device in her vehicle,” the prosecution stated.
In July 2021, Toole was arrested in a second case of stalking another woman he had previously dated. This occurred during the investigation of the first case.
The second victim indicated that she began receiving messages from Toole indicating he knew her location. She then found a GPS tracker in her glove compartment, and another one on the undercarriage of her vehicle.
Toole dated his second victim for a few months while authorities were investigating the first case. He was ultimately arrested in July 2021.
“Toole also showed up uninvited to her home, pasted large posters of their text communication on her garage, shot a BB gun into her front yard in the middle of the night, and overwhelmed the victim with text messages,” prosecutors said. “He was also seen on a doorbell camera entering the property while the victim was away and driving by her home at all hours of the day and night.”
Toole will be sentenced on Feb. 6. He faces a maximum of three years and eight months in prison.
“The victims in this case were traumatized by the defendant’s repetitive and relentless stalking behavior,” Deputy District Attorney Tessa McCarty said in the release. “It is my hope that this conviction provides them the closure they deserve.”
By Sharon