Petaluma mayoral candidate Shelina Moreda was the subject of a temporary domestic violence restraining order in 2025, sought by a former boyfriend who alleged she stalked him, sent threatening messages, and smashed a window with a large piece of wood. The order, which directed Moreda to stay away from the man, his home, workplace and vehicle, was ultimately dismissed without prejudice by a Sonoma County judge in December 2025 after the two sides reached an agreement, meaning no court ever made a finding of guilt or civil liability against her. According to the California Courts Judicial Branch of California, the state’s court system handles thousands of cases each year involving domestic violence, sometimes referred to as family or intimate-partner cases.
The existence of the case was first reported by Petaluma Voice, the nonprofit newsroom that broke the story on September 2, according to The Press Democrat. According to court records cited in that reporting, Moreda and the former boyfriend began dating in July 2025 and ended their relationship in early September 2025 following repeated arguments and what the man described as emotional volatility; the two shared no children or pets. The man requested a domestic violence restraining order on October 20, 2025, and received a temporary order the next day, later asking the court for a five-year order on November 13, 2025.
The former boyfriend told the court he feared for his and his family’s safety because of what he described as Moreda’s volatility, stalking, vandalism and threats. He alleged she tracked him to his father’s house at Lake Tahoe, sent hostile messages in late October 2025, and threatened to break a window at the house where he was staying before smashing one with a large piece of wood. He also said Moreda possessed photos of him sleeping, cooking and packing hunting gear while he was on the clock for work.
Conflicting Accounts of the Tahoe Trip
Moreda texted the former boyfriend after 2 p.m. on October 11, 2025, saying she was heading to Lake Tahoe to resolve their differences. She has said she had been day-drinking that day and wanted to work things out, and that she sent threatening and conciliatory texts over the following week and a half. The former boyfriend texted Moreda that she should not drink and drive, while Moreda said she had been drinking and driving…