‘I am afraid of her’: Dallas mechanic says Code Compliance officer extorted hundreds of dollars from him

The code officer told WFAA she has done nothing wrong, and that her and the mechanic are friends, which he disputes.

DALLAS — The City of Dallas confirmed one of the officers in its Department of Code Compliance Services is currently on leave and being investigated following allegations that she extorted hundreds of dollars from a small business owner.  

Oscar Rivera said what started as a routine process to renew his business license with the department led to months of text messages and in-person visits from a woman who works in the department, claiming that he could avoid paying the city thousands of dollars in fines if he paid her a few hundred dollars a month.  

He did. For more than two months.  

According to the city documents, Rivera has owned and operated a car repair shop in Dallas since 2015. In July, he was undergoing the annual process of renewing his business license. He told WFAA that he had been asked by code compliance to make some changes to the vehicles on his property, and he received his updated license once he complied.  

WFAA received a copy of his renewed license dated July 16, 2025.  

More than two months later, in September, Rivera said he heard from an officer with the department who claimed he was in violation of the city’s code but wasn’t given any formal written ticket or notice of a violation.  

“I was surprised because they had told me that everything was fine, and I had everything in order,” Rivera said.  

Rivera and his attorney provided WFAA with screenshots of text messages sent to Rivera starting in late September. The sender, who Rivera said was the Code Compliance employee who claimed he was in violation, tells Rivera that it will “take another $200 to get this closed” and promises they blocked his address from their reporting system, later stating that it would be $275 if he waited to pay the money.  

The screenshots show messages starting on September 27 and carrying on through mid-November. The sender appears to be negotiating fees for Rivera to pay to receive their “help” with code compliance.  

While the initial messages started by seeming to offer Rivera a deal, they turned to pleas for cash when Rivera was slow to respond or told the sender he didn’t have money to pay.  

Some messages read, “can you send me something please?” and “I need the money I used to pay my car note”.  

The sender appears to claim that they paid their own money to “help” Rivera and they needed him to reimburse them for that assistance- despite Rivera stating he never received a notice from the city that he owed money.  

Rivera admitted that he thought the requests were strange but said he wasn’t sure they weren’t legitimate. He also said he felt pressured.  

“I am afraid of her,” Rivera told WFAA. “It’s like I tremble when one of their cars pass or her.” 

Rivera said he sent her nearly $700 through Zelle.  

He provided cellphone video to WFAA of two in-person exchanges he recorded with his phone in his shirt pocket. The video shows Rivera approaching a Dallas Code Compliance vehicle, and Rivera and the woman can be heard discussing the payments.  

On November 14, Rivera filed a police report with the Dallas Police Department.  

According to the report, DPD linked the phone number and Zelle account that messaged Rivera to 25-year-old Daelena Howard who DPD identified as a “Code Enforcement Officer I” in its report.  

DPD confirmed the report with WFAA and stated that the case is being investigated. 

WFAA also reached out to the City of Dallas, which released this statement: “The Department of Code Compliance Services has been made aware of allegations involving one of our officers and a small business owner. As a department, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, accountability, and public trust. We take all allegations of misconduct seriously. The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending a thorough investigation.” 

The city later confirmed that Howard was placed on leave on November 24.  

On that same day, Rivera told WFAA that she planned to come to his shop to pick up cash. WFAA met her at the shop that afternoon to ask her questions directly.  

Howard, who arrived at Rivera’s shop in a personal vehicle, initially told WFAA she was visiting Rivera’s shop because he was working on her car, which he immediately denied.  

Howard then claimed that she and Rivera were “helping each other” but would not answer follow-up questions about what they were helping each other with. She denied Rivera’s claim that she had extorted him for money but admitted that she had met Rivera while working for the city and had sent him messages asking for money. 

“I was always off the clock when I was sending them,” Howard told WFAA. 

She also offered to return Rivera’s money multiple times.  

“I will give back the money you sent,” Howard told Rivera. “I’m not trying to break the law. I’m not trying to go to jail.” 

However, Howard maintained that she was trying to help Rivera- though she would not clarify what she was helping him with.  

“I don’t want to answer,” Howard replied when asked.  

At multiple points in the nearly 20-minute interaction, Howard asks Rivera to speak with her privately and seems emotional and surprised when told that Rivera is afraid of her.  

“Afraid? You afraid?” asked Howard. “You said we was friends.” 

Rivera replied by listing off the different dollar amounts she had asked him for, to which she repeated that she believed they were friends. 

“She told me she could give me a ticket of $5,000 or I could pay $290…to her,” Rivera told WFAA. “…those were the options she gave me.” 

When asked about this allegation, Howard initially said she did not say that, but a few seconds later said she remembered saying it because Rivera “had all them violations”.  

“Friend, I will give you your money back,” Howard said to Rivera. “I’m not trying to be any kind of way. This is genuine.” 

After receiving little response from Rivera, Howard eventually got in her car and drove away.  

Rivera’s attorney, Eric Durojaiye, called Howard’s behavior “shocking”.  

“I think it’s appalling. I think it’s predatory. I think it’s a situation that should not have happened at all,” Durojaiye said. “She was demanding money for her phone bill…for her car not…things like that, which is evident that she was doing this for the wrong reasons.” 

Rivera said he hopes the city’s investigation will lead to accountability and protect other small business owners.  

“I want them to investigate her because if she can do this to me, I believe she is doing the same to many other people,” Rivera said. 

WFAA asked the city for information on standard protocol for code compliance officers and what residents should expect if they are actually in violation of city code. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for the City of Dallas said “Our code compliance officers receive extensive training through our Code Academy, TEEX Courses, ethics training, and on-the-job training to ensure they are prepared for field inspections and interactions with the public.”

While the city did not answer specific questions about the proper process for informing residents about code violations, the website states that residents and property owners who have been reported for violating city code will receive a courtesy notice. According to the website, the document includes specific information about the alleged violation, a deadline for completing any changes, a follow-up date for inspection from a code officer and information about additional enforcement action for failure to comply.