Previously unreported details from the divorce filings of California Asm. Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno) allege that the state legislator and Fresno City Council hopeful allegedly stalked his estranged wife, controlled her movements and monitored her activity from a rehabilitation facility.
The news was first reported by The California Post.
Driving the news: Elizabeth Arambula, who filed for divorce on Jan. 26, claims her husband enlisted his father – former Assemblyman Juan Arambula – to keep tabs on her while he was in recovery.
She alleges that she was monitored using the family home’s security system and that Joaquin Arambula removed her from the alarm account, allowing him to set the alarm remotely from rehab.
Elizabeth Arambula also accused the Fresno Democrat and former emergency room physician of directing one of their daughters to download a location tracker, allowing him to monitor their whereabouts.
What she’s saying: “When I was moving out, Joaquin had his father watch me and attempted to follow me to my new residence with our three daughters,” Elizabeth Arambula stated in her court filing.
“I had to approach his father and demand he leave, or I would call law enforcement.”
The big picture: The additional revelations come amid cacophony of bombshell allegations from Elizabeth Arambula’s divorce filing, noting that the five-term legislator was often drunk and high.
His regular bouts of impairment left the ex-ER doctor relying upon his now ex-wife and taxpayer-funded state drivers to transport him to and from official meetings.
Elizabeth Arambula’s filing states that the couple’s monthly expenses total $28,000. She alleged that the Assemblyman siphoned roughly $900,000 from their accounts, a form of coercion the Marjaree Mason Center describes as a form of domestic violence.
She says he earns $12,000 per month, in addition to a $6,000 per diem for the eight months the Assembly is in session.