Ventura County man pleads guilty to stalking women he dated
Derrick Toole pleaded guilty to two felony stalking charges in Ventura County, Calif. / Ventura County District Attorney's Office
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - A Woodland Hills man accused of stalking two different women he once dated pleaded guilty to two felony stalking charges Monday, according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
According to officials, a restraining order was filed in Simi Valley against 59-year-old Derrick Toole by the first victim in 2019 after he allegedly continued to call, text, and show up at her home unannounced. The woman said Toole also damaged her home door locks so they wouldn't work, vandalized her vehicle, and put a tracking device in her car.
As that case was under review, Toole began to date his second victim, officials said. The woman told police after the relationship ended a few months later, she began receiving messages from Toole insinuating he knew her location. A few days later, the woman searched her car and found a tracking device in the glove compartment, officials said. Another GPS tracker was also found under the car.
Toole also showed up at the woman's home uninvited and pasted large posters of their text messages on her garage, officials said. At one time, he shot a BB gun into her front yard in the middle of the night, according to authorities. Toole was even caught on camera going inside the woman's home when she wasn't there and driving by her home multiple times day and night.
"The victims in this case were traumatized by the defendant’s repetitive and relentless stalking
behavior," Deputy District Attorney Tessa McCarty said. "It is my hope that this conviction provides them the closure they deserve."
Toole faces a maximum of three years and eight months in prison if found guilty. He is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 6, 2024.