A very strange story out of San Mateo County in Northern California this week. On Tuesday a 63-year-old woman called police to report that a 59-year-old man named Dereck Estores had visited her home uninvited 41 times over the past 2 years. On multiple occasions her left notes and on one occasion he allegedly threw gasoline on her.
The victim, a 63-year-old Kings Mountain resident, reported that over the last two years, a known suspect visited her house unannounced approximately 41 times and left more than 20 notes at her property. On one occasion in July, the victim reported that the suspect threw gasoline on her legs.
The suspect was identified as 59-year-old Dereck M. Estores of Millbrae.
An Emergency Protective Order was granted by a Judge, and on Sept. 17, 2025, Sheriff’s deputies with the Millbrae Police Bureau located Estores driving on El Camino Real in the City of Millbrae. Sheriff’s deputies conducted a traffic stop and took Estores into custody without incident.
Estores was subsequently booked into the Maguire Correctional Facility for felony stalking and felony assault with chemicals.
It sounds like this guy might be a little deranged and dangerous but now at last he was going to wind up behind bars. Except that isn’t going to happen. After reviewing the case, the DA decided he can’t charge this man with anything.
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s office will not file charges against a Bay Area man who was arrested this week on suspicion of persistently stalking — and on one occasion — pouring gasoline on a woman, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Friday.
He left 41 notes and made 20 calls, all unreciprocated, but none of the notes were deemed threatening.
But because none of those notes, calls, or visits explicitly included a threat of harm, prosecutors cannot charge him with stalking, Wagstaffe said, noting the incidents would boil down to harassment, which is a civil matter in California.
Prosecutors will also not file charges in the gasoline incident, where the woman told police Estores poured gasoline on her. Wagstaffe said there was a “substantial delay” in the report and that Estores denied pouring gasoline on her.
The suspect and the victim never dated but were acquaintances at some point. Wagstaffe has no doubt the suspect is fixated on this woman but says there’s nothing he can do about it except feel bad.
“I just sit here saying, ‘What if on Monday, he kills her’?” said Wagstaffe. “We will feel that as a society we would have let victims down. When I see things like this, it just tears at me.”
The woman can still file a harassment claim but, as mentioned, that’s a civil matter.
Why didn’t she report all of this or file a report sooner? She told the DA she kept hoping he would just go away. And she was worried that escalating the situation by calling the police would only cause his behavior to become more extreme. So two years later she finally gave up and called the cops.
The part that really gets me is that the suspect just denied throwing gasoline at her and apparently the DA believed him. I mean, doesn’t his behavior seem a little off at this point? Why are we taking this weirdo’s word for it?
It doesn’t really surprise me that this is happening in California just south of San Francisco. In most parts of the country some level of common sense would prevail and charges would be filed. Even if all else failed, police would pull this guy aside and tell him to stay away or else. I hope that happened here but my guess is that after years of being cowed by progressives the police are just going to twiddle their thumbs until this woman is attacked or worse.
This case is one more example why women living alone should own a gun an know how to use it. If the police and the DA can’t do anything to help you after 41 uninvited visits, don’t leave your safety up to them. Next time this guy shows up, greet him with a 9mm Glock in your hand. Maybe then he’ll get the message to stop dropping by unannounced.
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